Bulgaria's Varna Follows Sofia in Capping Taxi Fares

After the capital Sofia, Bulgaria's Black Sea city of Varna has followed suit by approving a maximum taxi fare in a long-anticipated bid to end the abuses by rogue taxi drivers.

The Varna City Council decided Thursday that the maximum allowed cab fare per kilometer has to be BGN 1.5 at daytime, and BGN 2/km during the night hours between 10 pm and 6 am. The mainstream price in Varna is about BGN 0.90 – BGN 1 per km.

According to the head of the municipal transport commission, Krasimir Marinov, as cited by the Cherno More daily, the council does not need to improve new sanctions for violators because they already exist.

Just recently, BGN 1.6 per kilometer was set as the maximum allowed taxi fare in Sofia. It is about BGN 1 higher than the average price of the mainstream taxi companies in Sofia at the moment – which are about BGN 0.60 per km during the day, and BGN 0.70 per km at night.

The setting of the maximum cab fare was made possible after long-awaited changes to the Auto Transport Act adopted in March which obliged the municipalities around the country to set a maximum price within a three-month period.

The maximum cab fare is expected to contribute a great deal to ending the abuses of cab drivers in Sofia and along the Black Sea coast with foreign visitors and tourists falling pray to them very often. The Varna Municipality, where the price was capped at BGN 1.5/km includes the Golden Sands as well as several other smaller but major Black Sea resorts.

Examples include ripoff charges of BGN 100-200 for a ride from the Sofia International Airport to downtown Sofia, while the normal price should be no more than BGN 10-12.

More on Bulgaria's rogue taxis read HERE

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