Separate meals: The State Duma intends to differentiate between taxi and ridesharing
Self-employed taxi drivers may be relieved of a number of duties stipulated by the Taxi Act. First of all, we are talking about passing pre-trip and post-trip medical examinations. The relevant bill is being developed by State Duma deputies. This will increase the transparency of the passenger transportation market and reduce the departure of a significant part of drivers to the shadow segment of the market, experts and industry representatives believe. The details are in the Izvestia article.
The illusion of security
The parliamentarians intend to separate the requirements for professional taxi drivers and self-employed drivers who carry passengers in private cars. This was announced by Sergey Lisovsky, Deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee for the Protection of Competition, at a press conference on taxi transportation and public transport. The relevant bill is currently being developed and is currently being discussed with relevant ministries and departments, he said.
— The current taxi law imposes the same requirements on professional taxi drivers who work full-time in taxi companies, as well as private drivers who are engaged in private transportation in private cars. At the same time, private companies are simply unable to fulfill a number of legal requirements," the deputy noted.
As an example, he cited the need for taxi drivers, regardless of their status, to undergo pre-trip and post-trip medical examinations. According to Sergey Lisovsky, now the fulfillment of these requirements has actually turned into fiction. Taxi drivers just drive around with bundles of filled out and stamped travel documents with notes about allegedly conducted medical examinations and technical inspections.
— Unfortunately, there are examples of accidents when a taxi driver was driving drunk. But at the same time, he had a certificate stating that he had passed a pre-trip medical examination. In the form in which such inspections are currently being conducted, this is not security, it is an illusion of security," the deputy noted.
Medicine is powerless here
Only taxi companies can carry out such medical examinations in reality, and not "on paper" in relation to professional taxi drivers before they go on the line, the parliamentarian believes. For self-employed drivers who work, and more often earn extra money in their free time from their main activity, these requirements are simply impossible, said Sergey Lisovsky. There are no appropriate conditions and infrastructure for this, even in large cities, not to mention small towns, he stressed.
At the same time, the deputies do not intend to completely abandon monitoring the health status of self-employed taxi drivers. According to Sergey Lisovsky, one of the forms of control may be the annual medical examination of such drivers.
— We plan to consolidate the norm in the law being developed, according to which a self-employed taxi driver will be required to undergo an annual medical examination. Refusal or evasion of this obligation may become grounds for exclusion from the register of carriers. This will not only make it possible to identify certain diseases in such taxi drivers, but also have a generally beneficial effect on the health of our citizens," the deputy said.
Self-employed as an alternative to the bus
Private car transportation services should be fixed not only in a separate law, but also in the Transport Strategy adopted by the government of the Russian Federation until 2030, says Ivan Litvinov, head of the Association of the Self-Employed of Russia. Moreover, these shipments should be separated into a separate transport service, he noted.
— At the moment, approximately 1.3–1.5 million professional drivers and about 5 million private drivers work in the taxi industry. The latter, having the status of self—employed, complement and in some cases replace public transport in the regions," said Ivan Litvinov.
According to him, it is private companies that ensure the mobility of the population in cases of cancellation or reduction of bus flights. And when a public transport stop is located a few kilometers from a village, drivers in private cars become virtually the only way for residents of such settlements to get to it, especially in bad weather, he stressed.
— Excessive demands on self-employed drivers force them to move into the shadow segment of passenger transportation, in which orders are accepted through messenger chats, a "call to a friend", and in some cases even business cards with phone numbers are used. This does not guarantee the safety of either the driver or the passenger," said Ivan Litvinov.
The norms of the last century
The existing system of legislation in the field of taxi and passenger transportation by passenger cars is a set of laws and other regulations in 13 areas of law at once, says Stanislav Shvagerus, an expert at the Research Center for Digital Transport Legislation at the Law Institute of the Russian University of Transport.
— It is characterized by "patchwork", inconsistency of norms, a significant part of which migrated from legal documents of the USSR times. Many of these standards, in particular the requirement for mandatory medical examinations of drivers, are frankly outdated. They are archaic and do not meet modern realities," he said.
According to Stanislav Schwagerus, a simple change or addition to the taxi law will only lead to new conflicts and new problems for market participants. It requires a comprehensive analysis of the entire regulatory framework in this area and the creation of a modern regulatory system, taking into account the digital transformation of business and public administration.
Taxi and ride-hailing
Maxim Taxi supports the idea of separating the requirements for professional taxi drivers and private drivers. In world practice, the situation when a private driver uses a personal car to fulfill orders through a digital platform has its own term — "ridesharing," the company noted.
— A private trader uses a car purchased for personal needs, works part-time and does not have the economic ability to meet requirements comparable to the responsibilities of a trucking company. This is an economically and organizationally different model compared to a professional taxi," Maxim noted.
The company is confident that a clear distinction between professional taxi and ride-hailing will increase market transparency, reduce shadow employment and maintain transport accessibility, especially in regions where, for objective economic reasons, private drivers provide the bulk of transportation. At the same time, both models may well work in parallel, Maxim Taxi is confident.
— The risk of the entire taxi business going into rideshaling is unlikely. Professional taxi companies retain their advantages in the form of subsidies for fleet renewal, the use of preferences in the form of travel in dedicated lanes, specialized parking, free entry to train stations and airports, and the right to take passengers on the street. These models — taxi and ride—hailing - are not interchangeable. From the point of view of the transport strategy, they complement each other," the company told Izvestia.
Dmitry Gusev, First Deputy chairman of the State Duma's Control Committee, said he supports the initiative to double regulate the taxi industry.
— This is the right idea. Today, the taxi law creates unbearable working conditions, including for our guys who are returning from their military service. And we have created a working group in the Ministry of Transport, which is supposed to remove barriers to transport. And I hope this proposal will be submitted for discussion to this working group," he told Izvestia.
Yandex.Taxi was unable to respond promptly to Izvestia's request.
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