The transport company canceled the tender for the recovery of fines. Lawyers do not want to lose compensation
The Prague Transport Company canceled the contract for the recovery of receivables from unpaid fares. The four-year tender was worth 450 million crowns without VAT. The reason for the cancellation is a change in the law, according to which lawyers in less serious claims would have their costs reimbursed.
“Of course, this was reflected in the immediate reaction of the bidders,” said Jiří Štábl, a spokesman for the transport company. The terms of the tender gave the lawyer high costs. The tender would thus lose its meaning, so the transport company canceled it.
According to Štábl, a group of deputies submitted a proposal to amend the Code of Civil Procedure in January. According to him, in so-called disputes, ie less serious claims, lawyers would not be entitled to any reimbursement of the costs of legal proceedings.
The company’s management wants to decide on the next step only after “clarifying the legislative situation and setting clear conditions”. Until then, receivables for the transport company will be collected by Fidentia, which is currently in charge of this agenda.
The tender was to provide the transport company with legal services to assist in the recovery of debt from black passengers, including representation in court, executions or out-of-court settlements. Legal services were to include, for example, the maintenance of a receivables database, the digitization of documents, the assessment of the creditworthiness of receivables and the provision of a call center for debtors.
The winner was also to represent the transport company in the out-of-court recovery of receivables, including the sending of reminders and letters calling for the payment of outstanding money.
A contract for a billion
In 2008, the transport company entered into an agreement with Tessile ditta, which had an unclear property structure. Later, information emerged that the co-owner of the company was the then economic director of the transport company, Martin Horák. Ten refused. The transport company terminated the contract in 2012. At that time, the Euro.cz server stated that the company could have earned up to 1.2 billion crowns for the duration of the contract.
The imposition of fines on a Prague transport company has been criticized in the past. People had to pay much more on expenses than the fine itself. The recovery company received most of the amount.
The transport company won last year from fines for black passengers more than 136 million crowns, similar to previous years. In total, the inspectors checked almost seven million passengers, revealing more than 235,000 black passengers. The city company employs 162 auditors. The fine or surcharge to the fare is 1,500 crowns in Prague, if the passenger pays it on the spot or within 15 days, it will be reduced to 800 crowns.