Embattled Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) and its subsidiary Autopax have been referred to the Competition Tribunal for abusing its dominance at Johannesburg’s Park Station.
This follows an investigation by the Competition Commission into complaints by long-distance bus operators.
Prasa, which is not in a good financial position, may have to pay a hefty fine if it is found guilty by the tribunal. The commission is seeking an administrative penalty against Prasa not exceeding 10% of its annual turnover, as well as an order directing it to stop abusing its monopoly of Park Station.
Park Station serves as a transport hub in Johannesburg and plays a pivotal role in the integration of transport modes in connecting inner-city and inter-city services. It is the central railway and bus station in Johannesburg and is the largest railway station in Africa. The southern terminus of the Gautrain rapid-rail service is located underground, adjacent to the existing main-line station.
Prasa also owns Autopax, a bus company that owns City to City and Translux buses.
In 2019 Prasa was placed under administration for a year, while Autopax has been battling to pay salaries due to financial challenges.
The Competition Commission on Monday said it had found that Prasa was charging bus operators excessive prices for the use of Park Station. It found that the state-owned rail company favoured Autopax in space allocation and restricted or denied access to bus operators, who were competitors.
The Competition Commission said Prasa had in December 2013 introduced a pay-on-use system together with the hourly access fees per bus at Park Station. This was not done at any other intermodal terminal facilities.
This new system increased the bus operators’ costs of access to Park Station, threatening their sustainability and expansion. The annual increase to Intercape, for example, was 460% for 2014, it said.
The bus access fee was now R480, excluding VAT, per hour per bus for access to loading bays at Park Station, and in addition, Prasa charges a penalty of R150 for every 15 minutes each bus exceeds the initial hour.
“Apart from threatening the sustainability and expansion of Autopax’s competitors in a market, the commission is concerned that the costs of these increases are being passed on to consumers,” it said.
“In addition, the collapse of the other bus operators as a result of Prasa’s conduct will lead to the market being dominated by Autopax, which will be able to charge passengers excessive prices. Autopax is already charging customers more in routes where it is dominant.”
The commission said Prasa was the sole owner and manager of intermodal terminal facilities in SA, which included Park Station, a strategically located intermodal facility in Gauteng connecting different modes of transport to many passengers.
Prasa’s intermodal terminal facilities were indispensable to long-distance bus operators and to passengers as they enable passengers to conveniently, safely and seamlessly connect to different modes of transport at a single location. There is no alternate intermodal terminal facility in Johannesburg, it said.
Prasa also competed with long-distance bus operators through Autopax.
Long-distance bus operators provide scheduled bus services that connect cities in SA. The interprovincial operating licence requires long-distance bus operators to secure access to terminal facilities.
Long-distance bus operators, except for Autopax, provide an unsubsidised bus transportation service, and as such the cost of access to an intermodal terminal facility is important to them, the commission said.
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