Taxi drivers stage new protest against increase in the price of compulsory third party liability insurance

Two protests seriously hampered the movement in the center of Sofia - first public transport officials stopped the movement of nearly 30 lines in the city, and then taxi drivers took to the streets for the second time because of the high prices of the compulsory civil liability insurance.

Two protests significantly disrupted traffic in downtown Sofia today, December 20. First, Sofia's public transport workers staged a protest demanding the start of negotiations for a new collective labour agreement, and then taxi drivers took to the streets for a second time to protest the rising costs of mandatory third-party liability insurance.

The taxi drivers are standing firm on their demands. They gathered in a parking lot near the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), arriving in processions from two directions. Although they don't plan to block traffic, they are peacefully advocating against the price hikes in the insurance.

Taxi drivers say they are struggling to survive financially, and the situation has become critical. They submitted a protest note to the National Assembly with their demands, hoping to be heard. Members of Parliament from the "Vazrazhdane" party came down to meet the protesters and promised their support.

One taxi driver from Dupnitsa, Daniel Malinov, said, "I don't want to pay 2,000 BGN for insurance; we can't manage. I would have to quit driving a taxi and find another job. My insurance was 270 BGN, now it's 1,000."

Another driver from Dupnitsa, Krasimir Georgiev, commented, "They claim there is no cartel agreement, but it's purely cartel. If there's an accident and the damage is 2,000 BGN, they barely cover 1,000."

Simeon Kartalsky, taxi driver: "Peaceful protest, we don't carry weapons, we rely on the consciousness of the government to solve this problem, because there is no way that something that is mandatory, the state cannot regulate it. They can decide tomorrow and 10 000 leva to make us "Civil Liability".

Simeon Kartalski, another taxi driver, added, "This is a peaceful protest. We don't carry weapons, relying on the conscience of those in power to solve this issue. How can the government fail to regulate something mandatory? Tomorrow they could decide to raise the cost of 'third-party liability insurance to 10,000 BGN."

The protesting drivers reached the Association of Insurers in a procession. They plan to submit a protest note and leave small coins as a sign of their dissatisfaction.

photo by BNT

And if in the centre of Sofia there were no street closures by protesters, traffic at the city's exits is expected to become congested later in the afternoon and evening. As is typical on Fridays before a long weekend, a surge of holiday travel is anticipated to cause delays.

Nearly 20,000 taxi drivers in Bulgaria protested over the spike in the premium of compulsory third party liability insurance