Owners of minibuses do not agree to obligatory installation of GPS-trackers on their buses. This is required by a new contract with the utilities services that give permission for the relevant activities. Private owners call the document ‘one-sided.’
The official reason for the innovation is “to ensure the quality of passenger service on routes, traffic safety, as well as to implement operational control of transport means.” It sounds good. However, private traders are not satisfied with the fact that they have to pay out of their wallets for the Homielablpasazhyrtrans (state carrier) project and purchase the device for their own money (the cheapest costs about BYR700 thousand), as well as pay its monthly maintenance. Now is not the best time for this, because the number of passengers is decreasing. Profits of the carriers decrease accordingly.
Lola Buryieva, belsat.eu/en/
