“We definitely expect an above-average tariff measure”: Federal government calls on SBB and Co. to increase prices

The public transport sector, represented by Alliance Swiss Pass, has been heavily criticized for price increases. He called the consumer protection measure “incomprehensible”. “Tages-Anzeiger” ran the headline: “It doesn’t get any more immoral than this.” SBB in particular has come under criticism on social media and in comment columns. “In a real market, SBB would have disappeared long ago,” said one reader.

SBB: “We had no choice”

Shipping companies defended themselves. “We had no choice due to increasing costs,” SBB CEO Vincent Ducrot told SRF Radio.

But now research by SonntagsBlick shows that SBB and Co. are actually responsible for the surcharge. It wasn’t. The real pressure was applied by the Federal Transport Agency (BAV), which openly called on the industry to increase prices. This is shown in confidential documents that SonntagsBlick received on the basis of the public information law.

On 27 March 2023, BAV director Peter Füglistaler demanded in a letter to transport companies, cantonal public transport offices and collective bargaining associations: “Tariff measures (TAMA) must be implemented by 2024 in both national and regional collective bargaining associations.” Füglistaler stated that in terms of regional collective bargaining unions, BAV “necessarily expects an above-average TAMA by 2024.”

SBB, on the other hand, had been opposing price increases for a long time. In the presentation made by the “SBB Sustainable Finance Working Group” to representatives of BAV and the Finance Department on October 27, 2021, the following statements were made: “SBB does not currently plan any price adjustments until 2030. -Traffic development due to post-Covid uncertainties.”

According to SBB’s presentation, the fact that collective bargaining measures in the public transport sector are still being discussed was “at the suggestion of BAV and the cantons”.

The written pressure measures taken by the public sector are explosive. According to Article 15 of the Federal Law on Passenger Transport, tariff autonomy belongs to tariff companies. Are laws being broken here?
BAV considers its manager’s intervention to be unproblematic. “The collective bargaining autonomy of transport companies is still guaranteed,” says the media office. It is the companies that decide on the structure of the tariffs and determine the tariff level. “The federal government and the cantons have an indirect influence by determining the amount of the subsidy and at the same time defending the interests of taxpayers.”

The media office stated that BAV particularly drew attention to the decisions of the Federal Council dated February 15, 2023 regarding the consolidation of the federal budget. “Particularly for regional public transport, these mean that the tax money used may not be increased to the extent originally planned over the next few years, as the service continues to expand and therefore becomes more expensive.” This meant that additional tax revenues were not seen as an alternative to price increases.

Prices have been rearranged

Alliance Swiss Pass also sees the sector’s tariff autonomy intact. As proof of this, the association cites the fact that prices were re-adjusted after discussions with price observer Stefan Meierhans (55): “Individual elements of the announced tariff measures gave rise to controversy, such as the increase in GA prices for adult 2nd class.Class and 2nd and 1st Class.” difference between classes.The public transport sector re-examined the measures and made adjustments to its authority, taking into account market developments in the first half of 2023.

The price monitor saw this a little differently. In a letter dated May 17, 2023, he expressed surprise at the pressure exerted by authorities on the public transport sector. “According to the verbal statements of the decision-makers, collective bargaining sovereignty is in fact seriously restricted,” Meierhans said. Accordingly, transport companies are neither free to impose a tariff measure nor have much leeway in determining how much additional revenue it should generate.
Full self-determination sounds different.