Chimkent bureaucrats violate the principle of the impartial approach to the all actors at the public transportation market.

Administrative barriers in the area of public transportation became the main discussion theme of the retreat of the Council for protection of the rights of entrepreneurs and anti-corruption. This time it was held at the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for civil service affairs and anti-corruption of the South Kazakhstan region.

Except the members of the Council, there were representatives of the public transportation and highway of the passenger transport department of Chimkent local administration, «Monitoring service centre» LLP, “Yuzhavtotrans” association of transport operators.

The discussion of issues was turbulent and sometimes was beyond the competence of the Council. But the members of the Council followed their goal to resolve industry system problems. At least there are 3 of them: local administration makes transport operators to sign contracts on the excessive conditions, demands groundlessly frequent renewal of the bus fleet and makes to cooperate with monitoring service. The last demand caused a barrage of indignations of the transport operators.

Returning to the history of the issue it needs to say that Chimkent local administration in 2006 created a company to provide monitoring services- «Monitoring service centre» LLP with 100% participation of the state represented by akim of Chimkent city. It was created to monitor the traffic frequency of passenger busses that were provided with GPS navigators. IT- company “KazITService”, where monitoring service centre rent GPS equipment, established the sum for the rent of 300 tenge per month for one bus. So the Monitoring service centre enlarged its staff to 30 people and it resells GPS navigators services for  130 tenge per one day for one bus! It is easy to count the benefit if we take into account that each day 1090 busses work in the city. Nevertheless, the city department of passenger transportation still makes transport operators sign contracts with «Monitoring service centre» LLP.

But the most interesting thing is that in 2015 51% of share capital of «Monitoring service centre» LLP was transferred to private individual A. Zhumadilov. So now according to transport operators the employees of «Monitoring service centre» LLP violate all rules. They follow the route searching for violations and they process acts without car owners so as a result they displace from the market undesirable transport operators in order to promote the obedient ones.  

The members of the Council asked a reasonable question: Who is this Zhumadilov that all transport operators work on? According to transport operators he is a former deputy division chief of municipal services of the city local administration.

“Turns out the biggest businessmen are our bureaucrats- said the chairman of the Council Melis Seytzhanov. -Who established this cost in «Monitoring service centre» LLP? And if the companies didn’t sign under these conditions so why are there such demands? Actually, our city administration helps to dismantle the companies”.

Another system problem that was discussed by the Council was excessive demands to transport operators from the bureaucrats. It is made by concluding atypical contracts with bus companies. The issue was frequently raised by the Chamber and the Prosecutor’s office of the region which in 2014 ordered Akim of Chimkent city to remove violations.

City administration needed to bring all the contracts on regular public transportation in line with typical contract № 716 that was approved by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan 27 June 2011. But this demand wasn’t fulfilled. Local administration persistently makes the companies sign its contracts with unbeneficial conditions. For example, in the demands of its contract it is said “all buses must be at least 8 metres long”, “procurement of new buses during 180 days since the date of signing the contract” etc. There are no such clauses in typical contracts. Moreover, in addition 1 to the typical form of the contract it is said that the frequency of transport renewal depends on useful life. Minimal useful life of a bus is 7 years.

“In 2006 Local Administration said to renew the bus fleet. I took a loan to buy 36 South Korean buses. In 2010 they made me renew the bus fleet again and I bought 10 new buses-said the director of “KiU”LLP Otebay Toybol. - In 2013 when the Local Administration demanded to renew the bus fleet I refused and they took away all my routes. They took away one more from the remaining two. It became a serious issue for me as I took the loans to buy the buses and I must pay for it. And how should I pay 168 million debt with only one bus route?”

Toybol’s story is not a unique case. Nowadays several transport operators are under pressure. They think that the Local Administration intentionally puts obstacles to them, creating unbearable conditions for public transportation. The drivers lost their routes and go to work for business rivals- in all this they blame the department of public transportation and highways which constantly makes obstacles.

The members of the Council have a question: why do unknown companies have a beneficial right to get bus routes without any completion and why does everybody close their eyes on the violations meanwhile they take away the routes from the companies with 20 years of experience and who after all was forced to quit the market? Why not to put all the competition process in electronic format to exclude the human factor?

“It seems like the work of the public transportation department got out of state control. The Local Administration violates the principle of the impartial approach to all actors of the public transportation market. I suggest to inform Akim of the city about it”- said the member of The Council Vladimir Nakisbayev.

“Sanzhar-Motors” bus company director Elikbay Tokbergenov also thinks that his company which was many times awarded for being the best transport operator in the South Kazakhstan region, is not allowed to work by the public transportation department, presenting excessive demands, which are not in the contract. During the session the transport operator addressed to the members of the Council and city authorities: Do not help us, just give us to work in a calm conditions till the end of the contract and don’t take away our bus routes till we pay our credits.

The members of the Council summarized all the above mentioned as the following: it is necessary to organize a a rigorous audit by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for civil service affairs and anti-corruption of the South Kazakhstan region on all above-mentioned facts and also to create a working group with the representatives of these agencies to analyse and to monitor earlier-conducted competitions on the right of public transportation.

The chamber of entrepreneurs of the South Kazakhstan was recommended to work out all the suggestions on the implementation into transport legislation and the rules of public and luggage transportation.