Belgrade Union Publishes "Blacklist" Over Bus AC Failures

The GSP Workers' Union "Centar" and the Association of Belgrade Public Transport Users have published a "blacklist" of carriers whose vehicles received the most citizen complaints over air conditioning not being switched on during the hottest part of the year, as well as other irregularities with cooling systems.

Union president Ivan Banković said that since the "Zajedno na putu" portal launched, it had been promised the public would be fully informed about which carriers, paid with public money, were acting irresponsibly toward public transport users.

He said some carriers and company owners evidently consider themselves above the law, avoiding their obligation to run air conditioning during tropical temperatures, leaving faults unrepaired for days and generating extra profit while endangering the health of passengers and drivers.

The numbers behind the announcement

According to the union's statement, 785 citizen complaints were submitted through the portal between July 16 and August 3, while a total of 3,040 complaints concerning air conditioning irregularities alone have been received since the portal launched on June 19.

Who made the list

Per the statement, the highest number of complaints concern the following carriers: ASP "Strela-Obrenovac" (owner Miroslav Nikolić), transport and tourism company "Banbus Obrenovac" (owner Filip Kovačević), "Transprodukt-bus prevoz" of Belgrade (owner Svetlana Milanović), "Lui travel" of Belgrade (owner Miodrag Stojiljčković), and "C&LC Group" of Zemun (owner Jasmina Savić).

Within GSP itself, according to the same statement, most complaints concern the "Karaburma" depot, headed by Žarko Koman, and the "Dorćol" depot, led by Bojan Tasić.

"Two-thirds of all citizen complaints came from lines served by these carriers. We've recorded cases where AC wasn't turned on, where ventilation ran instead of cooling, where warm air was blown into the vehicle while outside temperatures exceeded 38 degrees, as well as cases where windows in vehicles with broken AC couldn't be opened, or where the AC was only switched on once an inspector boarded," Banković said.

Reports to the authorities announced

Banković said reports would be filed with the relevant authorities against all the listed carriers and responsible individuals, arguing that "someone needs to be punished where it hurts, in their pocket" in order to learn to respect their obligations to Belgrade's citizens.

"We'll be following every complaint, every inspection action and every penalty issued. The rules have to apply to everyone — carriers receive substantial money from the city budget and took on obligations the day they signed their contract with the City," Banković said, adding that this would now test whether the City has the will to deal with irresponsible carriers, and that the union would make that assessment public.