Budget losses due to taxi localization were estimated at 350 billion rubles.

The federal state budget will lose about 350 billion rubles in three years if the requirement for taxi localization comes into force. This was stated by experts from the HSE Institute of Transport Economics and Transport Policy, the university's press service told Izvestia on March 10.

This amount consists of a decrease in tax revenues due to the departure of drivers from the industry in the amount of 76.2 billion rubles (25.4 billion rubles per year), as well as customs duties, recycling fees and excise taxes for imported cars — 273 billion rubles.

Experts pointed out that by the end of 2024, the share of new cars of all brands entering taxis amounted to 11% of total passenger car sales in Russia. Based on the average market price, the cost of a new car is 2.7 times more than a used one.

"Thus, within a few years, self-employed drivers in private cars will lose access to taxi employment, as their cars will not be sufficiently localized, and the purchase of new domestic cars will be unaffordable due to such a price gap (without attracting credit funds)," the university noted.

According to calculations, if the localization requirement comes into force, the cost of operating cars will also double, which will lead to unprofitable activities for most drivers. As a result, they will leave the industry and the shortage of taxi personnel may increase to 500,000 people within three years, the HSE said.

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

Experts assessed the future localization requirements for passenger transportation vehicles

The draft law on the introduction of requirements for the localization of taxi cars is being discussed in the State Duma. It was adopted in the first reading last year, and is now being prepared for the second reading. The introduction of such requirements will become an additional protection for the taxi transportation industry, Maxim Sokolov, head of AvtoVAZ, said earlier.

Earlier that day, AvtoVAZ announced that the company is not and will not be the only supplier of cars for the taxi industry in Russia. The draft amendments discussed today involve the participation of several brands produced in the Russian Federation in the taxi purchase program, AvtoVAZ noted.