Bus operator's application against Prasa dismissed

Image source: Prasa - Facebook

APM brought the interim application against the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) and Autopax (Pty). Prasa, through its subsidiary Autopax Passenger Services, operates the Translux and City to City bus services.

On Monday, the Competition Tribunal issued its full judgement in the interim application.

“The ruling comes after APM applied to the Tribunal to interdict Prasa’s Corporate Real Estate Solutions (Prasa Cres) from preventing APM busses from entering Park Station to load or offload passengers. They also requested the Tribunal to order Prasa Cres to bear the costs of the application to the Tribunal,” Prasa said.

APM also argued that Prasa was engaged in excessive pricing, refusing it access to an essential facility and exclusionary market behaviour which prevented APM from entering or expanding into other markets.

“The decision by the Tribunal is a legal breakthrough for Prasa, especially Prasa Cres, which has been struggling to collect access fees from APM and few other bus operators.

“Prasa Cres is in agreement with the ruling of the Tribunal and notes the blatant lack of evidence provided to it by APM to support of its claims against Prasa,” the entity said.

The entity said the judgment will assist Prasa Cres in collecting the access fees and barring those bus operators who are using the completion law remedies to deal with contractual issues.

“The Tribunal has made it clear that operators cannot use its services to avoid their contractual obligations.

“This then opens the way for Prasa Cres to exercise its rights in terms of the contract and if need be bar all bus operators, including APM from operating from of its facilities until all outstanding monies have been is paid,” Prasa said.

Prasa said the access fees contested by APM were a business decision taken by Prasa Cres and entered into with all the bus operators at Park Station after determining that the fees historically paid by the bus operators were not enough to cover the operational costs.

“The new user system for which operators are expected to pay has essentially provided access to more bus operators who are now able to access and utilise Park Station as their base for loading customers,” Prasa said.

In terms of the old billing system only 10 operators had access to Park Station based on historical agreements they had with Prasa.

The new system has ensured that an additional nine Black owned bus operators are able to use the facility.

“According to Prasa Cres, all operators are subjected to a user-pay entry fee of R480. In instances where some operators default, a payment plan is entered into as was the case with Autopax in August 2019.

“Out of a total of 17 Black owned operators, only African People Mover (APM) has yet to sign a payment plan with Prasa Cres and has to date only made a total of three payments since 2017,” Prasa said.

APM has demonstrated an average load factor of 82% as the Prasa Cres facilities.

The Tribunal noted that were serial non-payers for all access fees across all Prasa Cres facilities throughout the country even though they continued to used them.

“Prasa Cres has consistently demonstrated the amount owed by APM as R9.3m as at 31 May 2019,” the entity said.