Foreign drivers have found a way to circumvent the ban on working in a taxi
In Yekaterinburg, taxi drivers who did not have time to replace their foreign driver's licenses with Russian ones learned how to circumvent the work ban. This was reported on April 28 by the EAN with reference to an industry participant.
"Now foreigners are turning to taxi companies with their problem, which work in conjunction with aggregators. They are helped to open a new account there for a fee, and they continue to work," the newspaper quotes him as saying.
It is assumed that to register a new account, taxi company representatives send an application to the traffic police for a driver's license change, and they are allowed to work before the exam. As a result, taxi drivers can open new accounts all the time and continue working with foreign rights, the source said.
According to the publication, earlier taxi aggregators began blocking the accounts of foreign drivers who did not change their rights to Russian ones.
Foreigners who obtained Russian citizenship or a residence permit before April 1 last year and did not exchange their national rights for Russian ones before April 1, 2025, will have to take a theory exam at the State Traffic Inspectorate, and in some cases, study at a driving school and take not only theory, but also practice. Foreigners temporarily staying in the Russian Federation with international rights are allowed to drive cars only for personal purposes.
On March 3, the Public Council for Taxi Development told Izvestia that the problem of a shortage of taxi drivers had worsened. If in 2023 70% of carriers reported a shortage of personnel, then in 2024 this figure increased to 77%. The key reasons for the shortage of drivers are the difficulty of finding qualified personnel, stricter regulation of the industry, as well as unwillingness to work according to the new requirements for taxis.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
