Fare-fixing is rife on dereg buses
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• Following deregulation just under half of Britain's privatised bus companies are running anti-competitive and illegal fare-fixing schemes, says the Office of Fair Trading.
The industry has enraged the OFT and its directorgeneral Sir Gordon Borne who said last week that from the pool of 239 PSV agreements which have so far been submitted for registration under the Restrictive Practices Act, 115 are fiddling the books by agreeing timetables and fares in secret "anti-competitive" deals.
He has written to 66 bus companies to complain. "Although many of the agreements relate only to single routes, their overall effect is to undermine the drive for more competition in the bus industry following deregulation brought about by the Transport Act of 1985," says Sir Gordon.
Companies to which letters of complaint have been sent include Colchester Borough Transport, Wilts & Dorset, London Country, Cambus, Alder Valley North, Hampshire Bus, Brighton & Hove, Southdown, Maidstone & District, City of Oxford, East Kent, Eastern National, United Counties, Grey-Green. National Express, Eastbourne Buses, Luton & District, South Wales, East Yorkshire, Northern General, South Yorkshire, United Automobile, Rhyrnney Valley, Cardiff City, Crosville (Wales), Ribble, North Western, Merseyside, Blackburn Borough, Burnley & Pendle, Preston Borough, Rossendale, Midland Fox, Midland Red (North), East Midland and Chesterfield Transport. Lothian Regional Transport, Lancaster City, Barrow Borough, Cumberland Motor, Blackpool Transport, Greater Manchester, Lowland Scottish and Scottish Citylink.