Record Number of AC Complaints on Belgrade Transit Vehicles

Citizens have filed a record 340 complaints over the past three days through the "Zajedno na putu" portal regarding air conditioning not being switched on in Belgrade public transit vehicles, the "Centar" union at the Belgrade City Transport Company (GSP) announced.

Union president Ivan Banković said that since June 19, when the option to report non-functioning AC was introduced, a total of 2,815 citizen complaints have been received, with the past three days marking a record — which he described as a serious alarm.

He added that Belgrade is expected to see tropical temperatures over the coming week, making it important for vehicles' cooling systems to be operational to protect the health of drivers and passengers.

"Some carriers are acting irresponsibly"

"At a time when the Republic Emergency Situations Staff and other relevant institutions are issuing guidance and warnings to citizens on how to behave during the heatwave, some carriers are behaving extremely irresponsibly toward citizens using public transit, either deliberately or through negligence failing to repair vehicles' cooling systems — we've recorded temperatures above 40 degrees in some vehicles, which is unacceptable and seriously endangers citizens' health," Banković said.

He announced the union would monitor the response of city services in the coming days, above all the Secretariat for Inspection, Oversight and Communication and the public utility company "Belgrade Public Transport Management," whose inspectors are required to check the condition and functionality of air conditioning on transit lines.

Worst-offenders list expected early next week

Banković said a joint team from the "Centar" union and the Association of Belgrade Public Transport Users processes and forwards all complaints received through the portal to the relevant services daily, and that a list of the worst-performing carriers — ranked by number of complaints against their vehicles — would be published as early as next week.

"Citizens should know which companies are gambling with their health and treating their obligations lightly, while all these firms operate on money from every citizen of Belgrade. That's why I'm calling on citizens to keep reporting all irregularities at zajednonaputu.sindikatgsp.rs — every complaint needs to be recorded and processed, and we'll be requesting detailed documentation from city inspectors for every check. This number of citizen complaints clearly shows someone has failed to do their job," Banković said.