The Council of Ministers has given the green light to the Competition bill, which also contains the issue of motorway concessions that had prevented the approval of the text on Monday. This was announced by the Ministry of Transport. For the first time, a portion of the tolls will not go to the coffers of large concessionaire groups, including international ones, but to the State. “The objective – explained Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Matteo Salvini – is to carry out public works and keep tolls under control”.
It is “another significant step in the right direction of increasing the competitiveness of our country also through internal competition, in support of businesses and to protect consumers”. This is what the Minister of Business and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso declared in commenting on the approval by the Council of Ministers, on the proposal of Minister Urso, of the annual bill for the market and competition.
The provision, Mimit reports, contains important measures regarding outdoor seating, portability of black boxes for insurance purposes, non-scheduled public transport, price collection, shrinkflation and innovative startups, in addition to other relevant measures under the jurisdiction of other ministries.
OUT. The four pillars of the bill, as the ministry explains in the note, are “more services for citizens, more decorum for cities, more resources for municipalities, more development for Italy”.
Specifically, the bill establishes that within one year of the entry into force of the law, a legislative decree is expected to be issued, upon proposal of the Mimit and in agreement with the Ministries of the Interior, Justice, Public Administration, Tourism and Infrastructure, to reorganize and coordinate the concession to public establishments of public spaces and areas of cultural and landscape interest for the installation of removable structures functional to the activity. It is also expected that the Municipalities will adapt their Regulations to guarantee, in particular, adequate areas for the passage of pedestrians and people with limited or impeded motor skills in the case of occupation of sidewalks. Until December 31, 2025, and in any case until the date of entry into force of the legislative decree, the 2020 rules related to the Covid pandemic are extended.
PORTABILITY OF BLACK BOXES. With the aim of promoting the mobility of demand in the insurance sector and reducing the phenomenon of forced loyalty and, consequently, increasing competition and reducing costs, insurance companies are prohibited from providing contractual clauses that prevent or limit the right of the insured to uninstall, without costs and at the annual expiry of the contract, electronic devices for monitoring data on the circulation of motor vehicles (the so-called black box) or penalties in the event of return after the expiry. A mechanism for the portability of data recorded by the black boxes is established that the consumer can request, through the insurance company, from the company that manages the electronic devices.
The data must be provided in a commonly used and machine-readable format, to ensure continuity of the data processing service to the new insurance company, which, in order to use them, must pay a one-off fee to the company that manages the electronic device. The establishment of an information system, subject to the supervision of Ivass, on non-compulsory insurance relationships is planned in order to make the prevention and fight against fraudulent behavior more effective.
The costs related to the creation and management of the anti-fraud information system are entirely borne by the participating insurance companies.
NON-SCHEDULED PUBLIC TRANSPORT. In order to tackle the serious phenomenon of illegal activity in the non-scheduled public transport sector, i.e. taxis and NCCs, sanctions are expected to be applied in the event of failure to register, ranging from suspension to revocation of the role of drivers.
Municipalities will be able to access the register by verifying the veracity of the data and communicate to the Ministry of Transport the data relating to any revocation or suspension measures adopted. This will also allow a survey of the number of licenses and authorizations for each Municipality.
Furthermore, the sanctions provided for non-scheduled public transport, whether taxis or rentals with driver, are rationalised and aligned.
MORE POWER TO MISTER PREZZI The monitoring activity of prices and tariffs carried out by the Chambers of Commerce is made more functional by assigning to the Guarantor for the surveillance of prices the power to identify the products to be subjected to control.
It is also expected that the Guarantor will adopt specific guidelines to identify uniform methods of price collection such as, for example, time intervals.
SHRINKFLATION. A measure is introduced to counter the phenomenon of the so-called “shrinkflation”, the practice that consists in reducing the quantity of product, while maintaining the packaging unchanged, which determines, in fact, a correlated increase in the price per unit of measurement. To this end, an obligation to inform the consumer is foreseen, which involves the affixing of a specific label to the displayed product.
STARTUP INNOVATIVE. The definition of innovative startups has been implemented: new parameters are introduced that can identify and reward the companies with the greatest potential, namely micro, small and medium-sized companies that, within 2 years of registration in the special register, have a share capital of 20 thousand euros and at least one employee.
Particular attention is given to innovative start-ups operating in strategic sectors, which will be able to remain in the relevant special register for up to 84 months (instead of 60).
The scenarios in which certified incubators can be recognized and registered in the appropriate register have been expanded, extending to them the benefits of the 30% tax deductions from IRES that other economic entities investing in Start-ups currently benefit from.
Provisions are also foreseen to promote venture capital investments by private and institutional investors.