Bus companies' battle for compensation

November 15, 2014

Bus companies face uphill battle over nuclear disaster compensation

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20141115p2a00m0na006000c.html

A group of charter bus companies must submit documentary proof for each cancellation attributed to the Fukushima nuclear crisis to receive compensation for profits lost due to the disaster, the companies have been told by the nuclear damage claim dispute resolution center.

Sixteen charter bus companies in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture filed an out-of-court alternative dispute resolution (ADR) claim with the government-backed dispute resolution center. Each of the companies received numerous reservation cancelations following the March 2011 Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant meltdowns, with some seeing their profits plunge more than 50 percent.

The companies submitted the group compensation claim in October 2012. Their claim compared operating profits for a one-year period following the nuclear accident against the average profit for the several years prior -- demanding the difference between the two figures.

During the first scheduled hearing in December 2012, the mediating lawyer from the center who was responsible for drawing up the settlement proposal told the bus companies that they had to submit documents specifying how they knew that the nuclear accident had been the reason for each individual reservation cancelation. One of the 16 companies succeeded in preparing the documentation as it had asked their clients the reason for each cancelation, but the other 15 were unable to comply with this requirement.

The bus companies emphasized that the demand for them to prepare such documentation was "too severe." Meanwhile, the center pressured the 15 firms on numerous occasions to drop their compensation claim.

During a subsequent meeting held in December 2013, the center produced a settlement proposal for the single firm that had complied with the documentation requirement, while telling the other 15 companies that they were being dropped from any further negotiations.

Calling the decision unjust, two of the bus companies have resubmitted their claim -- while several other firms among the 15 are presently preparing to do likewise.

According to the guidelines for the scope and amount of compensation that were established by the Dispute Reconciliation Committee for Nuclear Damage Compensation, which oversees the center, there are only 10 prefectures nationwide -- including Fukushima Prefecture -- where companies in the tourist industry are eligible for compensation for domestic reservation cancelations.

In the 10 designated prefectures, the guidelines specify that it is sufficient to submit documentation such as financial statements that prove a discrepancy in total sales before and after the nuclear disaster. Compensation would then be calculated based on consideration of past profits.

Apparently because the 16 companies submitting the group compensation claim are not based in the 10 designated prefectures, however, they were required to submit additional documentation.

Center representatives declined a request for an interview, saying that they were "unable to discuss individual cases."

One major bus company reported that reservation cancelations numbered around 10,000 in 2011 alone. A company insider commented, "It was not appropriate for us to be asking our clients (at that time) whether or not the nuclear accident was the reason for the cancelations." The firm added that the center's attitude in requiring the companies to submit the additional documentation was "exceedingly cruel."

"Many bus companies are not on an equal footing with tour companies," commented Isamu Mitsuhashi, president of the Japan Academic Society of Tourism and professor of tourism at Shumei University. "Particularly in the case of small bus companies, determining the reason for reservation cancelations would be a difficult undertaking.

"What the center is asking these companies to do is not realistic," Professor Mitsuhashi added. "Tourist-related firms are the first to suffer the impact of disasters. The center should take the situation of these companies into serious consideration when processing their claims."

November 15, 2014(Mainichi Japan)