The case of the two State Traffic Inspectorate employees, accused of demanding a bribe from the team transporting Robbie Williams' equipment, once again brought to the forefront the problem of corruption in the automobile administration and raised the question of the need for radical reform. The idea of closing the directorate and creating a single road control body, similar to the model in Germany, is being discussed more and more seriously in the transport industry.
„Peace is not the price. But racketeering on the road is a reality and we all know about it. Many colleagues do not report it because they do not feel support from either the state or the control bodies. If it were not for the intervention of a foreign embassy, the bribery case would not have become public,“ said Dimitar Dimitrov from the Chamber of Road Transporters in Bulgaria in “Face to Face“ on bTV.
According to him, corruption in the sector has been “a public secret“ for decades, and dozens of actions against employees have ended without real consequences. “There are cases of arrested directors, but many of those fired win their cases and return to work. This is a vicious circle,“ he adds.
Dimitrov is categorical that the existence of multiple control bodies is a prerequisite for chaos and abuse: “Currently, a truck can be stopped 20 times by different services - police, RIA, automobile administration, BFSA. This is madness. Uniform rules and a single control body are needed.“
According to him, the solution lies in reducing the human factor and introducing electronic systems: “It is no coincidence that there are already intelligent tachographs and remote control devices. This is the way - an electronic state, not body cameras that no one watches.“
Despite the insistence on closing the DAI in its current form, the industry emphasizes that the agency has key functions that must be preserved - international negotiations, licensing and professional competencies. “A clear distinction must be made between control activities and administrative services. Control should be removed, and expert capacity should be preserved“, added Dimitrov.