Fifteen Bus Companies Sue Transportation Ministry for $9.5 Million

Fifteen public transportation bus companies are suing the Israeli Ministry of Transportation for NIS 34.7 million (approximately $9.5 million). The lawsuit, filed in the Jerusalem District Court, alleges that the ministry has been imposing fines on the companies without proper authority and is demanding the return of collected sums.

The plaintiffs include companies from the Electra-Afikim, Extra, Superbus, Dan, Metropolin, Nativ Express, Beit Shemesh Express, Kavim, and Tnuufa groups. They claim that when bidding for route tenders, they factored in potential compensation the ministry might collect for service deficiencies, based on a predefined list of violations and past experience with the ministry's penalty application.

However, the companies assert that during the contract period, the ministry unilaterally began deducting "agreed upon compensation" that was not actually agreed upon. They argue the ministry is applying the compensation annex in a manner disconnected from the contract terms and past practices, thereby collecting large sums without legal or contractual right.

One justification cited by the ministry for these deductions is "reports contradicting control findings and public complaints." The companies contend this new "violation" was fabricated by the control department, where the ministry began attributing deviations to operators when public complaints or control findings conflicted with the operators' technological system reports. The ministry is reportedly charging NIS 10,000 per instance, while the companies argue the maximum penalty should be NIS 1,000.

Another point of contention involves "events along a route - not approved for electronic control." The companies state that historically, exceptional events like accidents or demonstrations, approved by the ministry as preventing scheduled route completion, were grounds for excluding those specific trips from violation findings. However, two years ago, the ministry allegedly stopped recognizing such events, claiming they were not approved for electronic control of departure times. The companies argue this stance is unrealistic, as a bus delayed en route would naturally miss its return trip, and contradicts the ministry's own past practices. They also claim such a condition was not explicitly stated in the contracts.

The companies state they have been paying these large deductions "in submission and silence," even though many service deviations stem from fundamental industry problems beyond their control. They maintain that the compensation annex is binding on both parties and are protesting the ministry's "aggressive" conduct in deducting sums they claim are not actual agreed-upon compensation.