Taxi drivers have asked the authorities to jointly discuss the law on the localization of their parks.

The Digital World Union of Users of Digital Platforms proposed to create a conciliation commission with the participation of representatives of the taxi industry, the government and car manufacturers and draw up a specification of the necessary line of cars for taxi needs. Izvestia got acquainted with the letter of the organization.

On their own: Russians want to be driven by domestic taxis

Experts assessed the future localization requirements for passenger transportation vehicles

It notes that the adoption of the law on the localization of vehicles in passenger transport is possible only after the appearance of comfortable and reliable cars on the production lines of Russian car factories.

The bill was approved in the first reading on January 18, 2024. According to it, starting from October 1 of this year, cars for passenger transportation are allowed to be purchased only by domestic companies — they must be produced by Russian concerns and the degree of localization of the machine elements must be high.

The appeal notes that taxi companies, leasing companies and industry economists do not consider the car models produced in the country to be suitable for taxis. The authors of the letter state that such a vehicle should have a spacious interior, built-in child seats, air conditioning, an enlarged trunk, and airbags.

The car must meet the requirements of round-the-clock intensive operation and have a guaranteed mileage of at least 300 thousand km before major repairs, the appeal says.

Valery Korneev, chairman of the Digital World, noted that Russian cars still "primarily lack reliability, which does not allow them to operate taxis in a continuous mode, which is required for their payback."

"According to taxi companies, such products spend up to 30% of their time in repair, which is extremely high and significantly exceeds the performance of Korean, Japanese and European cars, which previously formed the basis of taxi companies," he said.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Stop tire: taxi drivers don't want to work on Russian cars