VR cancelled long-distance train services in February 2024 due to a political strike and a track failure. Instead of offering passengers a cost-free re-routing to replace the cancelled journey, VR charged passengers a price difference for the transfer of the journey and gave the passengers insufficient information on their rights. The Consumer Ombudsman considered that VR had acted in violation of the EU Rail Passenger Rights Regulation and the Consumer Protection Act. VR committed to correcting its practices as required by the Consumer Ombudsman.
VR had to cancel all its long-distance train services between 12 and 13 February 2024. VR announced on its website that due to the strike, customers can exchange their long-distance single ticket for another train without paying a EUR 5 fee for the change. In its online bulletin informing customers about the track failure, VR only notified about cancelling long-distance trains and automatically reimbursing the price of single long-distance train tickets to the customers. VR did not clearly inform passengers of their right to re-routing free of charge and passengers were not directed to website informing them of their rights. Although it was not possible to arrange immediate re-routing due to the scale of the situation, passengers would have been entitled to transfer their journey at no additional cost.
VR also provided incorrect information on passenger rights in its social media channels and customer service. According to consumer reports and public information, passengers were not allowed to choose re-routing at no additional cost in VR Customer Service to replace the cancelled journey. Passengers only received a refund of the ticket price but had to personally buy a new train ticket and pay for the difference between the original ticket and the new ticket. Due to VR’s dynamic pricing, the prices may have been higher than the original ticket price. Passengers were thus incurring additional costs due to the strike and track failure, as VR did not offer passengers free re-routing.
If long-distance trains are cancelled or delayed, the passenger has the right to choose reimbursement or re-routing
According to the EU Rail Passenger Rights Regulation, in the event of a cancellation or a delay of 60 minutes or more, the railway undertaking operating the delayed or cancelled service shall immediately offer the passenger reimbursement of the full cost of the ticket or re-routing under comparable transport conditions at the earliest opportunity or at a later date at the passenger’s convenience. The reason for the cancellation does not affect the railway undertaking’s obligation to offer the passenger the possibility of choosing between the reimbursement of the ticket price and the re-routing. The Rail Passenger Rights Regulation also notes that if a long-distance train service is subject to a delay of 60 minutes or more, the railway undertaking operating the delayed or cancelled service must offer the passenger a new journey at no additional charge.
Passengers must be informed of their right to choose as soon as the railway undertaking has been made aware of a delay of one hour or more. Passengers must be allowed to choose to reroute a cancelled journey even if the price of the new journey is higher, and the railway undertaking may not merely automatically reimburse the price of the train ticket to the passenger.
The Consumer Ombudsman required VR to commit to providing passengers with an opportunity to choose between re-routing and reimbursement instead of just a refund in case of a 60-minute delay and to actively inform passengers of all passenger rights, such as the right to re-routing with equivalent transport conditions or reimbursement.
The Consumer Ombudsman also urged VR to commit to not providing passengers with false, misleading, or incomplete information on their right to free re-routing in any of its customer service channels. In addition, the Consumer Ombudsman demanded that VR not charge passengers the costs of the re-routing of the journey, including a fee for the change, a price difference between the original and the new train ticket, or any other costs in case of a one-hour delay of long-distance train service.
As required by the Consumer Ombudsman, VR undertook to offer passengers a choice and to inform passengers of their rights, inform customers in its customer service channels and offer re-routing at no additional cost in the future. VR rectified the incorrect information provided to passengers at the request of the Consumer Ombudsman and stated that it would compensate the passengers for their financial losses.