Steering direction: carsharing is proposed to be introduced into the legal field
The concept of carsharing in Russia is proposed to be fixed in legislation as an independent mode of transport. Today, there are no uniform requirements for its operation, which causes difficulties for both businesses and users. For example, in one region you can park a car for free in a paid parking lot, in another you can get a fine for it. The relevant initiative was submitted to the Ministry of Transport by business representatives. Delovaya Rossiya believes that the recognition of carsharing along with other modes of transport will increase safety and create long-term business conditions.
Why do they want to introduce carsharing into the legal field
Carsharing is proposed to be included in the new federal law "On Transport Policy in the Russian Federation", developed by the Ministry of Transport this spring. The document should consolidate the key principles of the formation and development of the unified transport system of Russia, as well as become a framework for creating a unified legal framework for the functioning of such infrastructure. It is aimed at regulating all major modes of transport, including rail, air, sea, water, and automobile.
The initiative to amend the law was addressed to Minister Andrey Nikitin by the country's largest company providing these services to the public, Carsharing Russia (Delimobil brand). Its fleet exceeds 27,000 vehicles available for rent in 16 cities of the country, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Yekaterinburg.
Carsharing is a short—term car rental service. The user can take any car for the required period — from a few minutes to a day — with payment exclusively for the actual time of use. Registration is carried out through a mobile application to which a bank card is linked, used both to pay for trips and to write off fines in case of violations.
Currently, carsharing activities are regulated by the general rules of the Civil Code (Articles 642-644), which relate to the rental of vehicles without a crew, as well as the rules of the road and other applicable laws.
"The company's practice in various regions of the country shows that carsharing has already become a popular format for individual mobility, complementing public transport, taxis and other types of urban transport. Its inclusion in the emerging model of the transport system will create unified and understandable conditions for operators to interact with government agencies and parking infrastructure, as well as government information systems," the document says, signed by Vincenzo Trani, CEO of the company and president of the Italian—Russian Chamber of Commerce.
The letter notes that today about 3% of the population uses carsharing in Russia, and the share of rental cars in the total fleet of the country is only 0.2%. At the same time, the potential capacity of the industry can reach 25% of the population and at least 1% of the fleet.
However, in order to form a stable regulatory model, unified, transparent operating conditions for operators are needed. There are no provisions in the current legislation defining the place of carsharing in the transport system, which, according to the document, leads to a number of systemic problems. In particular, the status of such vehicles in the urban mobility system is not fixed, there are no uniform federal requirements for issuing parking permits, as well as a single mechanism for verifying persons allowed to use the service. In addition, the regions are trying to introduce their own requirements, which differ depending on the subject, the letter says.
Business considers it important to form common approaches to the use of transport and parking infrastructure facilities by car-sharing vehicles by establishing a mechanism for issuing parking permits to operators at the federal level. The company also proposes to introduce uniform requirements for checking users' driver's licenses and ensure information interaction between operators and government information systems.
— Today, the concept of carsharing is not integrated into transport policy at the federal level — it is not recognized as an official part of urban mobility, which leads to regional differences in parking rules, access to infrastructure and driver's license verification. We advocate this not for the sake of business preferences, but because of the real problems of millions of people. The lack of a unified process for interacting with government information systems, as well as disparate verification systems, pose security risks. The legislative recognition of carsharing is the protection of both drivers and all road users," Vincenzo Trani himself explained to Izvestia.
The editorial board sent a request to the Ministry of Transport with a request to comment on the prospects for supporting the initiative.
What will change the appearance of carsharing in the legislation?
Carsharing has already become a part of urban mobility, and today it is important to consolidate its role as a full-fledged element of the Russian transport system, Oleg Danilov, commercial director of Citydrive, told Izvestia. According to him, the proposed changes create the basis for the development of modern infrastructure, the integration of carsharing services into regional and municipal transport models and the introduction of common digital solutions.
— This will increase the accessibility of transport for residents, reduce the load on the road network and encourage more efficient use of urban space, — said the representative of the business.
The editors also contacted other car-sharing companies with a proposal to give their assessment of the situation on the rental car market.
The business initiative is timely and long overdue, said Alexey Kotelkov, member of the General Council of Delovaya Rossiya and head of the Subcommittee on Digitalization of Transport and Passenger Transportation.
— Carsharing has already become a full-fledged element of urban mobility, but its further scaling requires uniform and transparent rules for interaction with transport and parking infrastructure, as well as user verification standards. Recognizing it on a par with other modes of transport will increase safety and create long—term business conditions, the expert believes.
According to him, Delovaya Rossiya is ready to use its expert potential to develop balanced solutions.
Due to the unresolved situation with the legal status of carsharing, disputes may arise between consumers of this service and businesses. For example, in case of an accident, it is difficult to determine the guilt of the parties, Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Consumer Initiative, told Izvestia.
— Under the terms of most carsharing agreements, responsibility for the car (including damage caused by it as a source of increased danger) passes to the lessee from the moment the vehicle is accepted until it is returned. This means that initially the burden of proving one's innocence lies with the driver. However, this does not mean an automatic admission of guilt — it must be proved in accordance with the procedure established by law," the expert explained.
According to him, in rare cases, responsibility can be assigned to the carsharing company if it is proved that the accident occurred due to a technical malfunction of the car, which the tenant did not know and could not have known about.
The expert also drew attention to the fact that some car-sharing companies prohibit the registration of accidents according to the European protocol, requiring a mandatory traffic police call.
— If the tenant violates this condition, the company may refuse insurance coverage, and then all damage will have to be reimbursed independently. In addition, incorrect paperwork (for example, incomplete damage descriptions) can lead to disputes about the amount of damage," Oleg Pavlov explained.
He noted that the OPI advocates tougher liability of carsharing companies for the harm caused by their cars. According to him, it is the operators who should bear full responsibility for the damage caused to other road users, acting as a "single window" for filing claims, lawsuits and enforcement documents. After that, companies will be able to recover their losses by way of recourse from the specific driver driving the car. According to the expert, such a model will encourage carsharing services to tighten the criteria for allowing drivers to access the fleet, which should eventually reduce the accident rate.
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