Konkurransetilsynet

The Competition Authority wishes to help improve the competitive situation in the taxi market and has on several occasions resorted to using the authority contained in Section 9 e of the Competition Act to draw attention to how public measures can affect competition in the taxi market.

In 2007 the Competition Authority sent two letters identifying anticompetitive effects of public measures for which the county administrations are responsible. The county administrations have wide-ranging licensing powers that determine how the taxi industry is organised in their individual regulatory districts. For example, the county administrations can decide whether or not there should be one or more taxi central dispatchers in a district, how many taxi licences to issue within a district, and to which central dispatcher new taxi licences should be linked, and they can establish regulations on price information.

In its comments the Competition Authority encouraged the county administrations to attach importance to effective competition when formulating licensing policy, and it referred to several possible measures for achieving this. For example, the Authority pointed out that the county administrations can permit new taxi central dispatchers in a district, conduct an objective process for analysing the need for new taxi licences, determine upper limits for the share of licences in a district that can be linked to any single central dispatcher, require the provision of better price information and design taxi ranks so that customers have a real choice of taxi company.

The Competition Authority has evaluated the county administrations' follow-up of the issues identified. Some county administrations believe that long distances and a scattered population make conditions in their counties unsuitable for effective competition in the taxi industry. These counties have therefore not implemented measures designed to promote competition. Several other county administrations have made adjustments for increased competition in accordance with the Authority's comments. Several counties have helped to increase competition by permitting the establishment of several taxi central dispatchers in the same district. New central dispatchers have been set up in Bergen, Ålesund, Tromsø, Nedre Romerike, Asker/Bærum and Stjørdal.

Some county administrations have introduced measures against dominant services by introducing limits on how many licences in a district may be linked to a single central dispatcher. Such arrangements have been introduced in inter alia Bergen and Stavanger. Several county administrations have also commissioned independent surveys to assess the need for new taxi licences, and the number of taxi licences is increasing in several areas.

Several county administrations have pointed out that an obligation to use a double system calculation would make it easier to compare different offers as well as to determine afterwards whether a price charged is correct. It has turned out to be more difficult to make arrangements for the provision of price information and to physically alter taxi ranks to make it easier for customers to choose the cheapest taxi.

Making arrangements for the provision of easily comparable price information also relates to matters that fall outside the jurisdiction of the county administrations. The physical adaptation of taxi ranks to accommodate price information and choice among taxi companies depends on cooperation between, for example, the municipality and the highway authority. The Competition Authority is participating in a working group with representatives from the Consumer Ombudsman, the Norwegian Consumer Council and the Norwegian Taxi Owners' Association which is working on solving problems associated with price information. This working group has drawn up templates for the presentation of taxi companies' prices that will be used on and in taxis, and at larger taxi ranks. The group is also working with the municipalities and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration to set up signs for price information at larger taxi ranks.

Efficient competition in the taxi market is important for consumers. Experience gained from the Authority's decision in 2007 related to patient transport in the county of Nord-Trøndelag shows that the level of expenses incurred by the Regional Health Authorities (RHF) for patient transport depends significantly on how well competition functions in the taxi market. It is therefore important for county administrations to continue to work on encouraging increased competition in the taxi market.