Art. 178. Rules on highway concessions and specific transitional regimes

1. For the highway concessions that, as of the date of the entry into force of this Code, have expired, the licensor who has not yet done so shall prepare the call to tender for the award of the concession, according to the rules for public procedures provided for by Part III of this Code, within the mandatory term of six months from the above date, notwithstanding the possibility of an in-house award in accordance with Article 5. If there is an in-house award in accordance with Article 5, the tender procedures shall be concluded within thirty-six months from the date of the entry into force of this Code. Without prejudice to what is provided for the award of concessions set forth in Article 5 of this Code, the extension of highway concessions is prohibited.

2. The reciprocal obligations, for the period necessary for completion of the procedure set forth in paragraph 1, shall be governed in accordance with the existing contractual conditions.

3. For highway concessions that will expire in the twenty-four months following the date of the entry into force of this Code, the licensor shall initiate the procedure to determine the successor licensee by means of a public tender, in accordance with the provisions of Part III of this Code, without prejudice to the possibility of an in-house award in accordance with Article 5. If the above term is less than twenty-four months from the date of entry into force of this Code, the tender procedure shall be initiated as soon as possible, in such a way as to avoid continuity between the two concession regimes.

4. The licensor shall initiate the public procedure for the award of the new highway concession, in conformity with the provisions of Part III of this Code, within the term di twenty-four months prior to the expiration of the current concession, without prejudice to the possibility of an in-house award in accordance with Article 5.

5. If the tender procedure does not conclude within the expiration date of the concession, the outgoing licensee remains obligated to continue the ordinary administration until the transfer of operations. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall apply to such period.

6. At least two years before the expiration date of the concession, the licensor shall conduct, in the presence of the licensee, all of the controls required to assess the overall technical status of the infrastructure and shall order, if appropriate, the necessary restoration and changes to the state of the places in accordance with the contractual commitments.

7. For the works allowed that the licensee has already performed but not yet depreciated at the time of the expiration of the concession, the outgoing licensee shall be entitled to compensation for such investment line items by the successor, equal to the cost effectively incurred, net of depreciation of revertible assets not yet depreciated as resulting from the financial statements as of the date on which the concession ends and any changes made for regulatory purposes. The amount of the value of the subentry shall be borne by the successor licensee.

8. Without prejudice to the contracts of public-private partnerships with an availability charge for highway concessions, the risk set forth in Article 3, paragraph 1, clause zz) is inclusive of the traffic risk. The administration may request a prior opinion on the draft conventions to be signed from the Transportation Authority.

8-bis. The administrations cannot award highway concessions that have expired, or which are about to expire, using the procedures set forth in Article 183. paragraph introduced by legislative decree no. 50/2017 in force from 20-5-2017

8-ter. The highway concessions relating to motorways that involve one or more regions can be awarded by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation to in-house companies of other public administrations, even those specifically established. For such purpose, the analogous control set forth in Article 5 on the above in-house company can be exercised by the Ministry of Infrastructures and Transportation through a committee governed by a specific agreement in accordance with Article 15 of Law No. 231 of 7 August 1990, which shall exercise the powers set forth in cited Article 5 on the in-house company. paragraph introduced by legislative decree no. 50/2017 in force from 20-5-2017