The NCBA decided that only the software applications of taxi companies could run on the touch screen terminals at the ‘Henri Coanda’ International Airport in Bucharest. This way, NCBA restricted access to the touch screen terminals for companies managing aggregator software applications. Basically, customers could only request transport services from certain taxi companies whose applications were installed on the touch screen terminals, not from aggregators offering services from multiple taxi drivers.
Through the proposed commitments, NCBA aims to ensure access for all interested operators within the airport premises, under transparent, non-discriminatory and predictable conditions.
Thus, in order to regulate the rental activity in a unified manner, CNAB undertakes only to identify and rent the spaces for the placement of touch-screen terminals, without intervening on the types of applications running on the respective touch-screen terminals. In addition, passenger transport services from the airport will no longer be limited to taxi transport (respectively to the IT applications of taxi companies), but will also include others, such as ordering through aggregator applications or ride-sharing applications. Also, the rental of spaces will be assigned exclusively through a public auction organized by the Romanian Commodity Exchange, and interested companies will be able to submit bids for multiple spaces, but they will only be assigned one space within the same auction procedure, in order to ensure the largest possible presence of companies active on the market and diversified services for passengers.
After analyzing the observations received, the Competition Council may request the modification of the proposed commitments and/or may decide to accept or reject the commitments. In case of acceptance of the commitments, they are monitored for a certain period, by the competition authority or by a company designated for this purpose. In case of failure to fulfill the commitments, CNAB may be sanctioned with a fine of up to 10% of its turnover. During the procedure, the Competition Council may reopen the investigation upon request or ex officio, if certain irregularities are found. The commitments proposed by CNAB can be consulted on the competition authority’s website.