Strategic quotas: taxi requirements are being asked to be reviewed
Taxi fleets and public organizations in the taxi industry are asking the authorities to change the legislation in the field of passenger transportation. We are talking about reviewing restrictions on quotas for operating non-localized models as taxis, as well as including this type of transportation in the Transport Strategy. Experts and industry representatives are ambivalent about these initiatives. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
You're giving me a quota!
The National Association of Car Fleets (NAT) has asked the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Anton Alikhanov, to review the requirements regarding quotas for the use of models not included in the relevant list of the Ministry as taxis. A copy of the letter is available to Izvestia.
The procedure provided for by current legislation for granting quotas for the use of non-localized models in 25% of the total number of taxis in the region applies only to cars owned by individuals. At the same time, the National Association of Fleets notes, in some cases this quota is not in demand by those to whom it is addressed. As an example, the NAT cites data from the Metropolitan Department of Transport, according to which only two vehicles from the Moscow quota of 22,281 cars are included in the regional taxi registry (as of the end of May).
"This clearly confirms the actual discrepancy between the norms of current legislation and the current situation in the taxi transportation market: the quota, designed for tens of thousands of vehicles, is practically not in demand precisely because its effect is limited to a narrow circle of subjects — individuals," the NAT said in its appeal.
At the same time, the Association emphasizes, legal entities and sole proprietors are now completely deprived of the opportunity to take advantage of the quota, despite the fact that "they form a professional, controlled and taxable segment of the market." Therefore, the NAT is asking the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov to "consider the possibility" of changing the legislation so that the quotas provided also apply to carriers — legal entities and individual entrepreneurs. This, the Association believes, will ensure equal conditions for all categories of carriers, will allow non-localized cars used by taxi companies to be kept in the legal field, preventing their formal transfer to the ownership of "physicists", and will increase the actual demand for the quota itself.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that they redirected the appeal to the Ministry of Transport of Russia.
Taxi — to Strategy
Simultaneously with the letter from NAT, the Public Council for Taxi Development (OCRT) sent an appeal to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Minister of Transport Andrey Nikitin asking them to include passenger and baggage transportation by passenger taxi in the Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation until 2036 with a forecast for the period up to 2050. Izvestia also has a copy of this letter.
Among the proposals of the OCRT are "the creation of mechanisms for state support for fleet renewal, the development of digital transportation control and safety services, increasing taxi accessibility for families with children and people with limited mobility, improving the working conditions of self-employed carriers and the formation of a long-term strategy for the development of the industry." According to the estimates of the Public Council, more than 70 million people use taxi services every year, the number of trips exceeds 3.3 billion, and the total economic volume of the passenger taxi sector annually reaches 2-2.3 trillion rubles.
At the same time, according to the OCRT, taxi development issues still remain outside the framework of long-term government planning and, despite the scale of the industry and its social significance, taxis are still not considered by the state as an independent element of the transport system. This leads to contradictory regulatory decisions, the organization notes. The inclusion of this type of passenger transportation in the Transport Strategy will make it possible to form a unified state policy regarding taxis, the OCRT emphasizes.
The Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation confirmed to Izvestia the receipt of this appeal, noting that "it will be considered in due time."
Pros and cons
Industry representatives and experts interviewed by Izvestia have different views on the initiatives of the NAT and the OCRT. According to Stanislav Shvagerus, head of the competence center of the International Eurasian Taxi Forum, it is logical that as part of the work on updating the Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation, the attention of the head of government and the Ministry of Transport is focused on the need to reflect in this document the directions of development of passenger taxis as a socially and economically significant part of the transport system of the state.
— Currently, mandatory requirements for taxi market participants — drivers, taxi companies, and ordering services — are contained in regulatory legal acts of more than a dozen federal ministries and departments, as well as regional authorities. This huge number of requirements is simply impossible to meet in a digital taxi environment, and it takes most of the business's resources," Stanislav Shvagerus told Izvestia.
He stressed that the ways to develop the taxi market lie in the transition from state regulation of each transportation participant to regulation of taxi service systems for the public, with the development of different standards of such systems. This will free businesses from outdated regulations, and the government will save them from administrative costs and inefficient budget spending, the expert believes.
"The level of transportation safety will only increase, since it is directly proportional to the level of market organization,— Stanislav Schwagerus is confident.
Taxis, as a significant segment of the passenger transportation market, deserve to be included in the Transport Strategy, says Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine. But at the same time, taxis should not be given the status of public transport, he believes.
— Despite the fact that a taxi carries a huge number of passengers, in my opinion, it is still incorrect to consider it a public transport. At least because, unlike a bus, tram or metro, there are no benefits for certain categories of citizens here - everyone takes a taxi at a set rate," says the editor—in—chief of Za Rudem.
As for the initiative to expand quotas for the use of non-localized models as taxis, Maxim Kadakov believes that this proposal is premature. Too little time has passed since the requirements for localization of taxi cars and quotas themselves came into force to judge the effectiveness of these measures, he believes.
— These requirements are valid for only one quarter, which is too short to draw conclusions about the relevance of the established quotas. Yes, the example of Moscow, where at the moment only two cars out of more than 22 thousand potentially allowed are registered under such a quota, is quite striking. But where is the guarantee that by the end of the year there won't be several hundred or thousands of "quota" taxis? Moreover, as practice shows, not all carriers are actively updating their fleets in the current conditions. It will be possible to consider a proposal to expand the validity of these quotas when more time has passed and more up—to-date statistics on their demand appear," Maxim Kadakov told Izvestia.
Initially, quotas were developed as a temporary transitional mechanism exclusively for self-employed carriers in order to give them the opportunity to adapt to the new requirements of localization legislation without having to change a car in a short time and incur unplanned high financial costs, recalls Irina Zaripova, a member of the Public Council at the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation. To date, when implementing this rule in relation to the self-employed, not all subjects of the Russian Federation have adopted the necessary regional regulations, she noted.
— Expanding the quota mechanism to other categories of carriers will require additional administration and will significantly increase the already high burden on regional authorities, which in many cases are already experiencing a shortage of human resources, — Irina Zaripova believes.
In addition, it should be borne in mind that the more complex the mechanism for distributing such quotas becomes, the higher the risks of non-transparent procedures and corruption, emphasizes a member of the public council under the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation.
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