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© Georgi Paunovski
The majority in parliament approved amendments to the Penal Code in second reading, which penalize the unregulated transport of passengers. These are amendments introduced by the deputy GERB Iglika Sabeva in the transitory and final provisions between the first and second reading of the Code of the Merchant Marine.
The final adopted texts provide for two to five years in prison and confiscation of the motor vehicle for the benefit of the State of all those who carry out public passenger transport without registration, permission and license. When the act is committed by two or more people or by a false document, the penalty is imprisonment of five to ten years or a penalty of five to fifteen thousand lev, the court may order the confiscation of up to half of the guilty property .
According to the BSP deputies who voted against, the changes will also cover people who “pay two levies for gasoline to the neighbor to take the children to school in the morning”, that is to say. it can also affect carpooling. However, the government denied it. According to Stanislav Ivanov from GERB, the carpool will remain, as it is not a public transport and has no benefit, but it takes money for gas. In legal peace, however, there is no definition of carpool.
The Socialists also believe that the sanctions are very high and do not correspond to the act, and the Prosecutor’s Office will assume another activity. According to GERB, the goal is to raise money during the crisis.
At the beginning of the year, the GERB deputies proposed similar sanctions through direct changes to the Penal Code and explained that they do not affect the shared trip, since it is not public transport. These proposals were in response to protests from carriers, but were not voted on as there was a public backlash that this would affect the shared ride.
