Fare rules not fair says AMA
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• The Office of Fair Trading and the Association of Metropolitan Authorities (AMA) are discussing possible amendments to the Transport Act's definition of "anti-competitive practices" which, they say, is so narrow that it bans schemes designed to help passengers.
The AMA believes the legislation is ill-suited to the PSV industry because it rules out fare-fixing schemes, joint ticketing arrangments and cooperation on schedules and routes, which it says are often the only way to run an effective post-deregulation service. The OFT has received more than 2,000 complaints about restrictive practices since deregulation, mostly from small operators, and is investigating 66 bus companies. The Act binds the OFT to take action on any evidence of joint action by operators: "We do not think the Passenger Transport Authorities can always satisfy the requirements of the Transport Act as well as the Competition Act," says the AMA's public transport committee.
Tyne & Wear, for example, where a number of longdistance routes are operated on a joint basis to achieve regular timetables, is currently threatened with a Competition Act inquiry.