THE European Commission (EC) has accepted proposals by Spanish national operator Renfe to address concerns that it might have abused its dominant position in the Spanish railway ticketing market.<\/p>\n
Renfe has committed to grant third-party ticketing platforms access to its data by the end of February, a move that has been welcomed by the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC). \u201cIt should mean that consumers in Spain will have better choice on where to buy Renfe tickets,\u201d says BEUC director of legal and economic affairs, Mr Agust\u00edn Reyna.<\/p>\n
The EC launched an investigation in April 2023, expressing its preliminary concerns that Renfe\u2019s apparent refusal to provide rival ticketing platforms with comprehensive information and real-time data on its services might be hindering their ability to compete with Renfe\u2019s online distribution platforms.<\/p>\n
The EC says that the third-party ticketing platforms need to have access to Renfe\u2019s full content and real-time data displayed on Renfe\u2019s own digital channels to tailor their offers to passenger needs and to compete effectively with Renfe. Refusal to provide this information would be a potential breach of European Union (EU) competition rules.<\/p>\n
In light of these concerns, and following consultation by the EC with third-party ticketing providers during the investigation, Renfe has committed to provide all current and future content and real-time data provided on all its online channels to third parties by February 29. The Spanish national operator will also enforce a so-called Look-to-Book ratio, balancing the operational needs of its sales system with the competitiveness of rival platforms. It also commits to not exceed a maximum monthly error rate of 4% in 2024 and a maximum monthly unavailability rate of 1% in 2025 to ensure that third parties benefit from high-quality IT services.<\/p>\n
In addition, the commitments include a non-circumvention clause whereby Renfe commits not to use any unfair, unreasonable or discriminatory technical or commercial measures that would impede or hamper access to and distribution of its content and real-time data.<\/p>\n
The legally-binding commitments will remain in force for an indefinite period and implementation will be monitored by a trustee appointed by Renfe who will report to EC for a period of 10 years.<\/p>\n
The EC accepts that the commitments have addressed its preliminary concerns over Renfe\u2019s alleged abuse of its dominant market position. The EC\u2019s executive vice-president in charge of competition policy, Ms Margrethe Vestager, says the decision \u201copens up competition in online rail ticketing services in Spain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom now on, independent ticketing platforms will have access to all the information necessary to innovate and compete effectively with Renfe\u2019s online distribution channels,\u201d Vestager says. \u201cThis is crucial for more affordable rail services and promoting environmentally-friendly means of transport.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis decision sends a signal to other train operators elsewhere who might be restricting access to important ticketing and real-time data,\u201d Reyna says. \u201cThe issues identified in Spain must also be dealt with EU-wide so all consumers can benefit from simpler, more transparent, competitive and diverse ticketing options.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s so important that the Commission also urgently proposes a Multimodal Digital Mobility Services Regulation, a green mobility policy to give consumers a real alternative to travel more sustainably in the EU.\u201d<\/p>\n
The post EC forces Renfe to open up ticketing data to third parties<\/a> appeared first on International Railway Journal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE European Commission (EC) has accepted proposals by Spanish national operator Renfe to address concerns that it might have abused its dominant position in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rail-news","category-transport"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3624\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}