Bratislava, October 7, 2025 — The Council of the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic (AMO Council) has upheld two first-instance decisions imposing a combined fine of €252,500 (approximately $293K) on Organizátor RIDS and Martinská parkovacia spoločnosť(MPS) for charging excessive access fees to bus carriers using their bus stations.
In June 2024, the AMO found that both companies held dominant positions in their respective local markets and exploited this dominance by imposing unreasonably high charges for access to the bus stations they operated. The AMO imposed fines on both companies, ordering RIDS to pay €218,500 (approximately $253.8K) and MPS to pay €34,000 ($39.4K).
RIDS applied excessive pricing practices at bus stations in Žilina, Bytča, Čadca, and Vrútky from January 1, 2019, until the issuance of the decision, while MPS engaged in similar conduct at the Martin bus station from July 1, 2020, until the authority’s decision in June 2024.
In assessing the reasonableness of the fees, the AMO compared the operators’ costs and revenues. In every case, revenues exceeded costs by several tens or even hundreds of percent — a margin the authority deemed unjustified given the nature of the services provided.
The access fees are levied on all types of carriers, but the affected stations are primarily used for urban and regional bus transport, and as a result, the increased costs were ultimately borne by public authorities, namely, regional and municipal governments that subsidize bus services. The Žilina Self-Governing Region faced the greatest financial impact, as the higher station fees increased its expenditures on regional bus operations.
Both firms were also ordered to cease the illegal conduct and remedy the situation within 60 days of the decisions becoming final. The MPS decision became final on September 24, and the RIDS decision on October 1. The companies may seek judicial review of the rulings.
