Responsibilities Towards Service Users

The obligations of providers of passenger and goods transport services in relation to passengers are largely defined on the basis of special legislation on individual modes of transport.

 In addition to special legislation, the responsibilities of the MaaS operators depend significantly on the scope of the services they offer, the position of passengers and mutual contractual relationships.

Depending on the aforementioned factors, the MaaS operator can play the role of a comprehensive service provider or intermediary. The package travel legislation also imposes significant obligations on MaaS operators, where applicable.

Special legislation on individual modes of transport set different notification, rerouting and assistance obligations for providers of passenger and goods transport services in the case of changes and incidents. However, they do not pay any attention to specific questions related to travel chains. The obligations of the MaaS operators are mainly defined in accordance with general contractual principles.

To fulfil and protect the rights of passengers in unclear situations, it is recommended that the parties agree on the following joint practices:

• How can the MaaS operator obtain information about any changes or incidents related to the travel chain?
• Who will notify passengers of how a delay in or the cancellation of a part of the travel chain affects the remaining parts of the travel chain?
• How can such notifications be coordinated with the statutory notification obligations of the MaaS operator and passenger and goods transport service provider?
• What rights does the MaaS operator have to cancel or change tickets that it has purchased for a passenger if it needs to reroute the travel chain due to changes or incidents?

• How can it be ensured that a passenger’s travel chain continues in situations in which the travel identifier does not work? Whom will the passenger be advised to contact?
• In a small number of incidents, the MaaS operator and the provider of passenger and goods transport services may have partially overlapping rerouting obligations of different scope. It is recommended that the parties agree on how these obligations can be reconciled or centralised in order to protect the rights of passengers.
• How can different parties to the travel chain exchange information about rerouting or refunds towards passengers?

On the basis of applicable special legislation, providers of passenger and goods transport services may be obliged to pay separately defined standard compensation or compensation for loss to passengers. Even if no special legislation applies, consumers may have the right to obtain a discount or refund on the basis of general principles under the consumer law.

If a passenger also incurs losses, general contractual principles may apply. Because the MaaS operator can act in different roles, it may be unclear to passengers who the actual responsible party is. For the sake of clarity, it is recommended that the contracting parties agree on the following:

Complaint process and giving information about the process to passengers:

• To whom can a customer complaint be submitted?
• Are the parties obliged to forward the complaints that they receive to the actual responsible party?

Compensation practices:

• Will a specific party handle all customer compensation cases? If this is the case, how will the costs be divided?
• If the MaaS operator and the provider of passenger and goods transport services are responsible for passengers on the basis of different regulations, which of them should the passengers first contact?
• What are the responsibilities of the providers of passenger and goods transport services if there are cancellations that affect the services of the MaaS operator?
• However, agreements may not restrict the rights of consumers to claim compensation directly from the providers of passenger and goods transport services.

Information that has an impact on the functionality and reliability of the travel chain provided for passengers by the integrated mobility services should be taken into account in agreements, where possible.

There is probably not much information of this type, but it is nevertheless recommended that it should be offered in the interface.

This information is of help in such situations as rerouting and in other customer service situations arising from incidents.

Information related to travel chain planning and reliability includes:

• information about the transit time or conditions or routes between transport services
• how quickly information about a ticket sold or a reservation or activation made is updated technically so that the ticket/identifier can be authenticated in the vehicle
• any travel-related modifications or incidents that can be transmitted, and the transmission schedule

It is recommended that the MaaS operator and the provider of passenger and goods transport services agree on the necessary practices in order to transmit information about assistance given to passengers and the rights of passengers with disabilities in the case of incidents.

 In order to provide an accessible travel chain, it may be necessary to agree on the transmission of information at a more detailed level than is required in the decree on essential data. Passengers with disabilities need to obtain information about accessible routes in advance. Service providers should also be prepared for individual and reasonable requests regarding accommodations in accordance with section 15 of the Non-Discrimination Act.