In connection with the increase in the amount of parking fees on the territory of “Tashkent International Airport named after Islam Karimov” LLC, owned by “Uzbekistan Airports” JSC, as well as in connection with the introduction of artificial barriers to entry of other business entities due to the introduction of a single taxi service at the airport, the Committee for the Development of Competition and Consumer Protection protested, which caused widespread discussion on social networks.
In order to ensure a competitive environment in industry, as well as in interests of business entities and consumers, the Committee carried out appropriate work.
During the studies, the following was revealed that, indeed, a condition has been created for vehicles belonging to only one economic entity to enter the first line of a special road near the passenger arrival terminal of “Tashkent International Airport named after Islam Karimov” LLC, payments are not charged from this entity, a strictly fixed transportation tariff is applied to it and that any price changes are agreed upon, cars of other economic entities providing taxi services with a license that meets requirements of terms of the “terms of reference”, they are not allowed to enter this territory and it has also been determined to limit competition in this area by increasing the amount of parking fees in areas near the airport.
These cases are illegal actions in relation to rules noted in the fifth paragraph of Article 16 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Natural Monopolies”. Subjects of natural monopolies are prohibited from using the position of natural monopoly to restrict competition in the markets for goods (works, services) that are not classified as natural monopolies, and also in the third part of Article 11 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Competition” it is established that legal entities and individuals are prohibited from coordinating the economic activities of economic entities if such coordination leads or may lead to the consequences specified in parts one and two of this article.
On above situation, on December 23, 2022, the Competition Committee decided that requirements of paragraph five of Article 16 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Natural Monopolies” and part three of Article 11 of the Law “On Competition” were violated, and “Uzbekistan Airports” JSC was issued mandatory prescriptions.
Based on this decision, JSC “Uzbekistan Airports” issued obligatory iprescriptions with the following content:
– ensure the creation of equal conditions for entry of cars of business entities engaged in provision of taxi services that meet relevant requirements and have a license in the prescribed manner;
– exclude from the “terms of reference” for organization of a passenger and baggage taxi service, from lease agreement for relevant premises, clauses on application of fixed tariffs for the transportation of passengers and implementation of any changes in tariffs in agreement with “Uzbekistan Airports” JSC;
– ensure that consumers are informed about the presence of other business entities providing taxi services on the first line of a special road near the passenger arrival terminal;
– it was instructed to revise the amount of parking fees near the airport.
At the same time, JSC “Uzbekistan Airports”, dissatisfied with decision and order of the Committee, appealed to the Tashkent Interdistrict Administrative Court.
By the decision of the Tashkent Interdistrict Administrative Court of March 28, 2023, the appeal of “Uzbekistan Airports” JSC was rejected, the decision and order of the Committee were upheld. The case was also considered by the appellate instance of the Tashkent City Administrative Court based on the appeal of Uzbekistan Airports JSC, and on June 12, 2023, the appeal was rejected.
We would like to emphasize that the Competition Committee is always ready to fight for ensuring a competitive environment in the industry and protecting the interests of consumers in courts of all instances.
