Russians began to order taxis more frequently through social networks and instant messaging.

The network of chats and groups for calling a taxi through social networks is growing in Russia, according to a study by the analytical agency Pressindex, carried out at the request of ANO Digital Platforms. On Telegram there are already 234 groups and 29 chatbots for calling taxis, and on VKontakte there are almost 4 thousand such groups. There are also illegal aggregator channels on Telegram that have introduced a commission for drivers, taxi-ordering service Maxim told the publication. .

According to the general director of ANO Digital Platforms Shcheltsin, these carriers are not registered in state registers and do not pay taxes. These trips are much cheaper, but the safety of passengers is affected: the driver is not responsible for them, says the director of Digital Platforms.

The problem, according to Shcheltsin, can be solved by liberalizing the requirements for self-employed taxi drivers: in the last two years, many of them find it difficult to meet all the requirements for carrying out legal activity. Considers that it is necessary to introduce the digitalization of authorization procedures for passenger taxis and experimental legal regimes.

Government officials told the publication that they have not yet received the appeal from the ANO director general.

At the end of July 2024, the price of a taxi ride for 1 km increased by 26% year-on-year, up to 43.11 rubles, according to Rosstat data. At the same time, according to the president of the union of users of the digital platform “Digital World”, Valery Korneev, an illegal trip can cost much less, because the driver will not share the profits with the aggregator or with the taxi fleet.

The publication’s experts are confident that it is possible to return drivers to the legal sphere. To do this, in his opinion, it is necessary to develop transport legislation for self-employed drivers. In Russia there are around 2.5 million, only 650,000 are registered and only 21,000 have permission to work as a taxi. ANO Digital Platforms says these procedures can be simplified by introducing digital methods to monitor driver and vehicle status.

Experienced drivers with experience will be able to independently carry out a technical inspection of the car before the trip. The draft order of the Russian Ministry of Transport has already been submitted for discussion. They want to allow drivers to carry out inspections without using measuring instruments. It will be enough to visually inspect the components, assemblies, mechanisms and systems of the machine, check for the presence of strange noises and odors.