The National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation (Intrant) hopes to approve a ruling that would favor traditional taxi associations versus digital transport platforms – Uber, Didi, etc. The director of the Intrant, Rafael Arias is a former vice president and general manager of major Dominican transport organization, Conatra.
Pro Competencia, the government entity in charge of ensuring competitiveness, is contesting the new rulings proposed for regulating taxi services drafted by the National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation (Intrant).
Pro Competencia highlights that in a letter dated 25 May 2021, the entity had sent several observations regarding clauses that clash with the published draft rulings.
Pro Competencia says that several articles in the Intrant draft regulation on taxi services violate the right to free competition and other legal aspects.
For instance, Article 10 of the draft regulation states that: “Individuals or legal entities wishing to provide cab transport service, in compliance with the provisions of Article 89 of Law No. 63-17, shall apply the rates set by Intrant, based on the time, location and distance traveled in the service provided, which shall be previously approved by the board of directors of Intrant (Codintrant) and published in the Technical Regulations of the Taxi Transport Service”.
Regarding this article, Pro Competencia says: “It is our duty to reiterate that the direct or indirect fixing of prices by a regulatory entity, far from benefiting the consumer or making the rendering of a service more efficient, has the same effect on the market as the collusive practices prohibited by Article 5 of Law 42-08, since it eliminates one of the most important factors at the time of competing. In those cases in which, for general interest, price margins are established, they must be duly motivated and the anti-competitive effects versus the possible benefits must be analyzed”.
At present, Intrant has on its web portal, an “Abbreviated Public Consultation” of the draft regulation with a deadline until 15 November to receive notifications for recommendations for amendments.
The regulation proposed by the governing body also seeks to regulate cab services whose services in the country are contracted through technological platforms.
Pro Competencia recommends that Intrant amend Article 9 that states: “Individuals or legal entities interested in providing the cab transportation service, shall register in the National Registry all vehicles, drivers, and other participants or elements linked to the provision of the service that are established both by Law No. 63-17 and by the National Registry Regulations and by these Regulations. For such purposes, Intrant may require the interested party to submit all information necessary to prove compliance with any requirement established in the aforementioned legislative documents.”
The recommendation it to limit and list specific requirements beforehand.
“In the same way or according to what was stated in the comments to Article 9 of this regulation, when Article 19, numeral 4 of this draft regulation establishes as a requirement for the granting of an operating license ‘other elements that are necessary or convenient for the purposes of the corresponding decision by Intrant’ it seems to violate the principle established in Article 3, numeral 8 of Law No. 107-13 (on the Rights of Persons in their Relations with the Administration and Administrative Procedure).”
Likewise, Pro Competencia observed that in Article 52 Intrant states that it has the power to determine the maximum number of cab licenses to be granted for which it will take into account the need to guarantee the sufficiency and efficiency of the service in optimal conditions for the users without prejudice to the guarantee of economic profitability of the cab service operators.
Pro Competencia recommended that Intrant carefully analyze and clearly establish the criteria under which it will limit the number of providers in the market, due to the implications that this may have from the point of view of free competition and freedom of choice for consumers.
An editorial in Diario Libre points out how the regulations are targeting touristic areas such as Punta Cana not so Greater Santo Domingo. Ines Aizpun points out the traditional transport associations are maneuvering to keep privileges they never should have been allowed to have.
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Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
3 November 2021