Road Transport Administration asks police to probe registration of disabled passengers in Riga public transport

RIGA - The Road Transport Administration has asked the State Police to look into reportedly suspicious records of public transport services provided to disabled passengers in Riga, Road Transport Administration head Kristians Godins said in an interview to LNT TV channel this morning.

Godins informed that the Road Transport Administration asked the State Police to probe the suspicious records last week. “We have completed our assessment and last week sent the State Police a latter with a request to carry out certain inquiries,” Godins said.

The request to the State Police was made because the Road Transport Administration does not have resources necessary to probe its suspicions. “There are things that we find suspicious, but with our resources… we cannot make sure whether there are grounds for our suspicions,” said Godins.

As reported, upon analyzing Rigas Satiksme municipal transport company’s information on the transportation of passengers with disabilities, who are entitled to fare discounts, the Road Transport Administration grew suspicious that the transportation statistics on this group of passengers might be inaccurate.

The Public Transport Council therefore decided to delay an advance subsidy payment of EUR 2.2 million to the Riga City Council for the transportation of passengers with disabilities in the second quarter of 2019. Godins called on the Public Transport Council to delay the subsidy to the Riga City Council for the transportation of passengers with disabilities for a month, explaining that the Road Transport Administration has to make sure that the money will be spent on the intended purpose.

Suspicions of data misrepresentation arose because of the sharp difference in the percentage of passengers with disabilities carried by various operators.