The Council of the Federation Commission has returned to the deputies the draft amendment to the law “On Taxis”

The Commission of the Council of Legislators on Economic and Industrial Policy of the Council of the Russian Federation examined the changes proposed by the deputies of St. Petersburg to the Federal Law “On the organization of transportation of passengers and luggage in passenger taxis in the Federation of Russia” ” and sent them for review. The conclusion of the commission was published on the website of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

The MPs proposed to decouple the issuance of work permits for self-employed taxi drivers from the region from their place of residence and to reduce the number of orders required for the mandatory opening of regional branches of taxi services.

The legislative initiative was considered by the Committee on Economic Policy, the legal and analytical departments of the apparatus of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation and the legal department of the apparatus of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

The Federation Council Committee supported the abolition of the requirement for self-employed persons to obtain a permit to work in a taxi only in the territory of the place (place of residence) where they were registered for tax purposes. Such a requirement, provided for in the law, “has led to a shortage of drivers, which has affected the cost of transport services and the waiting time for a taxi,” the committee believes. The rule came into force on September 1, 2023.

On the other hand, as noted in the commission’s conclusion, the lack of a regional link will interfere with the implementation of control and supervision measures in relation to self-employed workers. In turn, the analytical department believes that there are no restrictions for self-employed workers in the law, this is just a matter of misinterpretation, and a taxi driver can obtain permission to work in the required region without even being registered in it, but only if he actually stays there.

The deputies also proposed changing the operating conditions of taxi-ordering services, for example, by reducing the number of orders per day, after which the service will have to open a branch in a constituent entity of the Russian Federation. Currently the limit is 4 thousand orders; The deputies proposed reducing it to 1 thousand. This measure, according to the Federation Council, requires additional debate, as it could lead to an increase in prices. The proposal to postpone the entry into force of the branch rule from September 1 to March 1, 2025 was also rejected.

“The creation of an extensive network of branches by the taxi ordering service on the territory of the Russian Federation will lead to an increase in costs, which will be included in the commission charged to the carrier, which, in turn, will lead to an increase in the cost of transportation for the population,” the review says.

The Federation Council considered that it is not yet understood how these legal norms work and will work, so it makes no sense to change them.

Regional deputies were recommended to finalize the draft legislative initiative, taking into account the proposals and comments indicated in the commission’s conclusion, and submit it again to the State Duma.

• According to a study by the Analytical Center of the Government of the Russian Federation, the number of drivers in Moscow, St. Petersburg and their agglomerations increased from 345,000 to 367,000 people in 2021-2023. At the same time, the smaller the settlement, the greater the reduction in the number of trips and the drop in the number of drivers. Outside cities with more than a million inhabitants, the reduction in the number of drivers may reach 36-44%. According to analysts, the increase in financial and administrative costs of taxi drivers, as well as other objective factors, significantly influenced the flow of drivers to large populated areas.
• The day before, the Vedomosti newspaper, citing a report by the Ministry of Transport and Tourism, reported that authorities in 84 regions believe that the Taxi Law has caused serious problems in the organisation of the work of transporters. The problems included high prices for cars, high insurance costs, a shortage of drivers and a small number of support measures.
• State Duma deputy Dmitry Gusev demanded a moratorium on the law’s clauses relating to self-employed workers, introducing separate regulation for them and reducing the cost of insurance.