Up to a third of taxi companies in large cities may withdraw from the market

Up to 20% of taxi companies may leave the market within a year, representatives of several large companies told Izvestia about this. By the end of 2026, it is possible to reduce the number of carriers by another 10%. The situation may lead to a shortage of taxi services and an increase in prices for these services.

Checkers — and go: taxi drivers switch to a "car rental service with a driver"

What was the reason and what kind of solution is seen in the industry

The reasons are the inability to update car fleets at a high Central Bank rate. There are no separate taxi leasing programs on the market. There is a federal program of preferential leasing for wheeled vehicles from the Ministry of Industry and Trade with a rate from 10% to 35%," Dmitry Vissarionov, regional director of Gazprombank Avtolizing, told Izvestia. But they are not quite suitable for taxis.

It is difficult for carriers to replenish fleets and some players are forced to postpone the purchase of cars. According to Gazprombank Autoleasing and the NAPI marketing agency, the new car leasing market decreased by 44.8% in January-April 2025.

"By the end of this year, the number of leasing transactions may decrease by another 5-7%," Olga Kirillova, Commercial Director of Alfa—Leasing Group, told Izvestia.

According to Taxi Chocolate, the existing rates have made the taxi business model for cars with a four-year period of operation unprofitable, and this will continue until the rate drops to at least 13%. Fleets have stopped updating vehicles and are forced to extend the service life of cars to six years or more. It becomes unprofitable to work on such equipment.

"There are young car companies at risk, which opened three years ago on the wave of demand for taxis. They have not yet accumulated internal reserves to exist in conditions of high leasing rates," Vasily Baranov, head of the Multi taxi company, told Izvestia.

According to the Chocolate taxi company, changes in tax legislation from 2025 are also complicating the situation for companies. Additional tax expenses increased by 7% of revenue.

"Many carriers will go into the shadows, split up the business in order to avoid VAT. They are potential bankrupts," said Spartak Zabolotsky, an investor in this company.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

No luck: up to a third of taxi companies in major cities may leave the market