The Presidency issued Decree No. 167-23 on 25 April 2023 setting the guidelines to transform the Oficina Metropolitana de Servicios de Autobuses (OMSA) into a public company, complying with Article 356 of Law No. 63-17, on Mobility, Land Transportation, Transit and Road Safety of the Dominican Republic. The bus service is renamed Operadora Metropolitana de Servicios de Autobuses (OMSA).
The presidential decree provides for the company to be incorporated as established in General Law of Commercial Companies and Individual Enterprises No. 479-08 to give OMSA legal status, its own assets and capacity to contract commercial and contractual obligations, according to its own management and control mechanisms.
Nevertheless, OMSA will be attached to the Ministry of the Presidency. The ownership of the company will be strictly state-owned and its shareholders will be the Dominican state, represented by the Minister of Hacienda, with 99.9% of the capital stock, and the Fondo Patrimonial de las Empresas Reformadas (FONPER), or its legal successor, with 0.1% of the capital stock.
A board of directors, integrated by five members, of which the ministers of the Presidency and of Hacienda, together with the Minister of Public Works and Communications will have voice and vote.
The executive vice-president of OMSA will act as general administrator, and the secretary of OMSA will also be members of the Board of Directors. The President of the Republic will appoint these by decree.
The decree establishes that the OMSA main role is:
1) Plan, coordinate, administer, manage, operate and maintain the bus service in the corridors under its responsibility.
2) Establish equitable and accessible fares for users, in coordination with the competent authorities.
3) To implement and promote the use of clean and sustainable technologies in its bus service system.
4) Guarantee accessibility and mobility for people with disabilities and vulnerable groups in bus services.
5) Develop training and education programs for personnel involved in the provision of bus services.
6) Coordinate and collaborate with other public and private institutions in the promotion and improvement of public transportation.
7) Establish control and supervision mechanisms to guarantee quality and safety in the services it provides.
8) To encourage citizen participation in the planning and improvement of bus service.
The announcement comes at a time when the Abinader administration had initiated the distribution of main city routes to trusts created with the participation of major bus associations.
Read more in Spanish:
Presidency
Decree 167-23
27 April 2023