Dear guests: fines for foreign taxi drivers may be raised in the Russian Federation
The State Duma will consider amendments to the Administrative Code providing for tougher liability for foreign taxi drivers for violating the rules for transporting passengers and luggage. It is assumed that the fines for them for a number of offenses will be 10 times higher than for Russian citizens. Lawyers, experts, and representatives of the taxi industry have mixed opinions about this initiative. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Expats will pay more
A bill has been submitted to the State Duma for consideration, suggesting a significant increase in sanctions for taxi drivers — foreigners and stateless persons for violating the rules for transporting passengers and luggage. The document has been published in the legislative support system of the lower house of Parliament. It is assumed that the fines will be several times higher than for Russian drivers.
For example, if there is no information in the passenger taxi cabin provided for by the Rules for Transporting Passengers and Luggage by road and urban land electric transport, a foreign or stateless taxi driver will face fines of 10 thousand rubles. Officials who have committed such a misdemeanor are planned to be fined 50,000 rubles, and a fine of 70,000 rubles is proposed for a legal entity.
According to current legislation (Article 11.14.1 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation "Violation of the rules of passenger and baggage transportation by passenger taxi"), drivers, regardless of nationality, are fined 1,000 rubles, 10,000 rubles for officials, and 30,000 rubles for legal entities. Similar sanctions are currently provided for non-issuance of a cash receipt or receipt to a passenger. The amendments to the parliament also propose to raise them to 10 thousand rubles, 50 thousand rubles and 70 thousand rubles, respectively.
The absence of a taxi driven by a foreigner, special color schemes ("checkers") or a taxi identification light on the roof, according to the bill, will threaten the driver with a fine of 30 thousand rubles (currently 3 thousand rubles, regardless of the nationality of the violator). It is planned to increase it from the current 10 thousand to 50 thousand rubles for officials, and from 50 thousand to 100 thousand rubles for legal entities.
To increase discipline
The proposed amendments are aimed at improving transportation safety by reducing the number of violations of the rules committed by foreign citizens or stateless persons, the authors of the bill believe.
The accompanying documents to the draft law provide data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation on the statistics of taxi accidents caused by foreign drivers. So, 4.3 thousand such incidents were recorded in 2022, which is 11.2% more than in 2021. And in the first six months of last year, 2,467 such incidents were registered.
"The discipline of drivers begins with compliance with the rules of passenger and baggage transportation by passenger taxi," the explanatory note to the document says. The authors of the amendments believe that their bill "will improve the level of safety and ensure the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of all Russian citizens using passenger taxi services."
Checkers and security
The presence or absence of any mandatory information in the taxi's interior, as well as the presence or absence of an identification mark on the roof and "checkers" on board, is completely unrelated to accidents and safety, according to Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine.
— A super-careful and law-abiding driver can arrive in a car without "checkers" and a sign in the cabin. And vice versa — an outspoken reckless driver may be driving a car with all the necessary attributes," he stressed.
The editor-in-chief of "Behind the Wheel" considers the thesis of "increased discipline" due to tougher sanctions to be controversial.
— It turns out that a citizen of the Russian Federation needs one size of fine for discipline, and a foreigner needs another? A dubious statement. Responsibility for certain violations should be unified, regardless of the nationality in the passport," Maxim Kadakov told Izvestia.
Igor Morzharetto, a member of the Presidium of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, also believes that it is not necessary to impose different sanctions for the same violation for citizens of different countries.
— The requirement that foreigners who want to work in Russia as professional drivers and transport passengers should not only have a "crust", but also confirm their knowledge and skills is fully justified. This is directly related to road safety and passenger transportation. But differentiating responsibility for a particular violation depending on nationality is probably too much," emphasizes Igor Morzharetto.
National differentiation
The proposed bill introduces a new differentiation of responsibility for our legislation, says Sergey Radko, a lawyer for the Freedom of Choice movement.
— Now there is a division of sanctions for individuals, legal entities and officials. Now an additional graduation is proposed, depending on the nationality. There is hardly any need for this," the lawyer believes.
Recently, the taxi industry has been particularly popular among officials and deputies: initiatives and proposals on this topic appear almost every week, says Stanislav Shvagerus, head of the competence center of the International Eurasian Taxi Forum. He considers the proposed initiative at least "strange."
— According to this principle, it is possible to reach the point of absurdity: to differentiate responsibility for taxi drivers depending on gender, age, skin color, eye shape and skull size. It has nothing to do with the safety of transportation by this type of transport," he is sure.
The initiative to impose increased fines for violating passenger transportation rules for foreign citizens raises serious questions, both in terms of legal validity and practical effectiveness, Irina Zaripova, chairman of the Public Council for Taxi Development, told Izvestia.
— It is legally stipulated that different levels of responsibility cannot be applied for the same violations, depending on nationality. The adoption of such rules may lead to legal conflicts and potential disputes over infringement of rights. In addition, tougher penalties in isolation from other measures are unlikely to produce tangible results. If the goal is to reduce crime on the part of foreign citizens, then a comprehensive state approach is needed: monitoring migration status, checking qualifications, knowledge of the language, and working conditions in Russia. Without this, the problem will simply "spill over" to other areas: those who leave the taxi due to fines may leave for other industries where responsibility is lower.
The Public Council stands for the development of a unified strategy for taxi development, its chairman emphasizes. It is necessary to understand what the government's policy is aimed at: tightening control and restricting access to the profession, or supporting and developing the legal market, including those who are willing to work honestly, regardless of citizenship, Irina Zaripova notes. While there is no clarity, such targeted measures raise more questions than they bring benefits, she believes.
Taxi aggregators, to whom Izvestia sent requests, could not promptly tell about their attitude to this initiative.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
