Nearly 20,000 taxi drivers in Bulgaria protested over the spike in the premium of compulsory third party insurance

Taxi drivers from across the country went on a national protest over the drastic increase in the price of compulsory third party liability insurance. Around 20,000 taxis joined the protest in over 50 cities on November 20.

The Commission for Protection of Competition initiated an investigation over suspicions of a cartel between insurance firms over the increase in the price of third party liability insurance for taxi drivers. However, according to industry experts, there can be no talk of a cartel because the increases vary over a wide range. The Association of Insurers said that each company strictly complies with the law requirements when setting tariffs.

According to the taxi industry, since the beginning of November, the cheapest third party liability insurance is already 960 BGN, and in some companies it reaches 4800 BGN. According to the protesters, this sharp increase from 200 to 1,000 % will have an impact on the prices of taxi services.

"At the moment, the mass service, which is in Sofia, the daily fare for it is BGN 1.22 per km. According to our calculations, it may jump to over 2 BGN per kilometre," said Kiril Kirilov, deputy chairman of the national taxi trade union.

"Last year at this time, in Romania, there was the same problem with a huge hike in insurance prices. The Romanian Prime Minister imposed a moratorium. And we are mainly counting now on a quick reaction similar to that. We need a quick solution to the issue, so we will rely on politicians and especially on caretaker Prime Minister Glavchev," said Spas Atanasov, Branch Chamber of Taxi Drivers and Carriers.

Taxi drivers are divided in their demands .While some of them are in favour of a complete moratorium on raising the premium for third party liability insurance, others are willing to accept a 50% increase. Politicians from We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria and BSP-United Left came to the protesters and pledged support. The protest led to traffic jams in the capital and dissatisfaction of other drivers.

There were also traffic jams on the Trakia motorway after over 1,200 taxi drivers from Bulgaria’s second largest city of Plovdiv blocked it for 4 hours.

In the coastal city of Burgas, two protest rays joined at the exit of the city, which led to traffic disruptions, and traffic was regulated by traffic police. Hundreds of taxi drivers from Blagoevgrad also took part in a protest march through the city's central streets.

The Taxi trade union said it would wait until the end of the week for specific results, and remained on protest alert.