Rail passenger rights and obligations

Uredba (EZ) br. 1371/2007 Europskog parlamenta i Vijeća od 23. listopada 2007. o pravima i obvezama putnika u željezničkom prometu stupila je na snagu u prosincu 2009. Uredbom su uređena prava i obveza putnika u željezničkom prometu i to obveza pružanja informacija putnicima, sklapanje ugovora o putovanju, izdavanje karata, odgovornost prijevoznika vezano za putnike i njihovu prtljagu, obveze prijevoznika u slučaju kašnjenja, dostupnost usluga i pomoć osobama smanjene pokretljivosti, definicija i praćenje standarda kvalitete, postupanje po prigovorima putnika i obveza ustroja tijela koje će biti nadležno za provedbu Uredbe. Uredba dozvoljava izuzeće od primjene pojedine odredbe za domaći željeznički prijevoz putnika, što je većina država članica i iskoristila. Ulaskom Hrvatske u Europsku uniju Uredba je postala dio hrvatskog zakonodavnog sustava. U svrhu provedbe Uredbe donesen je Zakon o regulaciji tržišta željezničkih usluga kojim su propisani određene postupovne i prekršajne odredbe. I Hrvatska je izuzela od primjene pojedine članke Uredbe, i to u dijelu koji se odnosi na predujam u slučaju da putnik pogine ili da se ozljedi, odgovornost za kašnjenja, propuštene veze i otkazivanja, povrat novca i preusmjeravanje u slučaju kašnjenja, naknada cijene putne karte u slučaju kašnjenja, podrška u slučaju kašnjenja, obroci, osvježenja i smještaj, naknada za opremu za kretanje koju koriste invalidne osobe i standardi kvalitete usluge, izrada Izvješća o uspješnosti. Primjena navedenih odredaba je odgođena do 3. prosinca 2019. Nacionalno tijelo nadležno za provedbu Uredbe je HAKOM. Zbog široke primjene izuzeća od strane država članica za sada Uredba nije postigla željeni efekt.Regulation (EC) No 1371/2007 of the European parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on rail passengers’` rights and obligations came into force in December 2009. This Regulation establishes rules as regards the information to be provided by railway undertakings, the conclusion of transport contracts, the issuing of tickets, the liability of railway undertakings and their insurance obligations for passengers and their luggage, the obligations of railway undertakings to passengers in cases of delay, the protection of and assistance to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility travelling by rail, the definition and monitoring of service quality standards, the handling of complaints, and general rules on national enforcement body. Member States have the possibility to grant temporary exemptions from the application of the provisions of this Regulation to domestic rail passenger services, which most have used. When Croatia entered the European Union the Regulation became part of the Croatian legal system. In order to fulfill all the obligations stated in the Regulation, the Rail Market Regulation Act was adopted. The Act lays down certain procedural and penalty provisions. Croatia also exempted from the application some of the provisions, such as: advance payments if a passenger is killed or injured, liability for delays, missed connections and cancelations, reimbursement and re-routing in the case of delay, compensation of the ticket price for delays, assistance in the case of delay such as meals, refreshments and accommodation, compensation in respect of mobility equipment or other specific equipment, service quality standards, Report on service quality performance. These provisions are exempt until 3 December 2019. National enforcement body in Croatia is Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM). Because of the wide use of exemption by member states, the Regulation did not achieve its` goal