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The problem with fake taxis would be resolved, if the branch would be given the possibility to get rid of those who soil its name by itself, Roumen Kroumov, chairperson of the National Union of Taxi Drivers (NUTD) said on November 30 at a discussion about the taxi transport branch.

Kroumov said the rights of branch organisations should be clarified in the law, Dnevnik daily said.

In the past, the union has proposed the introduction of a minimum and a maximum km price, as a way to limit price differences. To do this, changes would be needed in the Transport law and the taxi regulations.

As an example the practise in Finland was given, where prices were regulated by the branch.

The National Federation of Taxi Drivers (NFTD) proposed changes to the trade law, so that each taxi driver could register as a transporter. The goal of this would be to break the monopoly of large companies in the branch.

According to NFTD, large companies make profits without doing anything other than being a mediator between the state and the drivers.

Yordan Mirchev, chairperson of the transport committee in Parliament said that he thought the proposed changes were not possible. He added that he was not afraid of mass protests as the proposals were only supported by a minority.

NFTDn claimed they had the support of close to 90 per cent of drivers.

Discussions at the moment were whether to abandon the requirement for cars used as taxis, to be less than five years-old, but instead to introduce the ecostandard Euro 3 as a requirement. NUTD said this could mean that older cars might meet the requirement, while some newer cars might not.

Kroumov said a new price increase in the taxi branch was not expected, unless fuel prices would increase with more than five per cent.

December 4 2007, photo by Elitsa Savova, source: www.sofiaecho.com