Road toll companies also made mistakes - German transport minister (updated)

Kapsch TrafficCom AG

26/06/2019 14:27

(Adds details, context, Kapsch Trafficcom comment)
    BERLIN, June 26 (Reuters) - Contracts the German government
signed with private companies to implement its road toll scheme
- which a European court has since ruled illegal - were
cancelled partly due to breaches by the companies, Transport
Minister Andreas Scheuer said.
    His comments cast doubt over whether and to what extent the
German government will have to pay compensation to a consortium
including German ticketing company CTS Eventim  EVDG.DE  and
Austria's Kapsch Trafficcom  KTCG.VI  after the EU's highest
court last week ruled that Berlin's planned road toll scheme was
illegal.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N23P1KJ
    Scheuer said the EU court ruling was one reason for
cancelling the contracts but there had also been failures on the
part of the companies as they had not respected certain
deadlines and ordered services from sub-contractors even after
the ruling. 
    Government sources told Reuters Germany might have to pay
the consortium a three-digit million euro sum if the contracts
were cancelled solely due to the EU ruling. 
    Kapsch Trafficcom said in a statement that it was in
negotiations with the German government and it still assumed it
would have been able to fulfill its obligations regarding the
toll within the deadlines.
    A spokesman for CTS Eventim declined to comment on any
speculation about why the contract had been cancelled. 
    The costs which arose from the collapsed toll plans led to
public outcry in Germany, with politicians criticising Scheuer -
a member of the Bavarian sister party to Chancellor Angela
Merkel's Christian Democrats - for signing contracts with
vendors and employing staff in preparation for the toll while
the EU lawsuit over its legal feasibility was still pending. 


 (Reporting by Markus Wacket
Writing by Thomas Escritt and Tassilo Hummel 
Editing by Michelle Martin)
 ((Thomas.Escritt@reuters.com; +49 (0)30 28885211; Reuters
Messaging: Thomas.Escritt.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net;
Twitter: @tomescritt))