Data on policies from taxi carriers will be included in the federal system from 2025

From 2025, information on whether taxi carriers have MTPL and OSGOP policies will be consolidated in the federal information system for passenger taxis. It will allow regional authorities to quickly and automatically check data on the availability of insurance policies, in the absence of which the transportation permit will be revoked. Currently, such checks are carried out manually. Market participants admit that many carriers are still neglecting MTPL for taxis due to its high cost, proposing to postpone the introduction of the standard.

Starting from 2025, regional authorities will receive information on whether taxi carriers have OSAGO and OSGOP (compulsory civil liability insurance for passenger carriers) policies centrally from the federal state taxi information system (FSIS Taxi), follows from the passport of the digital transformation program of the Ministry of Transport for 2024–2026 years (Kommersant has it). The document states that for this purpose, FSIS “Taxi” will be integrated with the automated insurance information system (“AIS insurance”). In addition, from 2025, the system will be used to carry out inspections of carriers and taxis by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. RUB 396.3 million will be allocated for the development and operation of FSIS in 2024–2026.

“The system makes it possible to use objective metrics and information to control and manage the transportation of passengers and luggage by passenger taxi. A single source of information on the legality of transportation participants has been created for the market,” the Ministry of Transport emphasized, noting that all subjects of the Russian Federation work in the FSIS “Taxi”, and more than 79 thousand carriers, 512 thousand cars and 11 thousand services are included in regional registers order a taxi. “The authorized body will be able to see in the Taxi FSIS information about the availability of the policy, the date of its issue and expiration date,” the ministry added.

The Public Council for Taxi Development explained to Kommersant that before the new taxi law came into force in September 2023, supervision of the industry took place using a single register of issued permits for the transportation of passengers and luggage by passenger taxis. Now records are kept in three regional registers: carriers, cars and ordering services. “By law, taxi ordering services are prohibited from transferring orders to carriers without permission. The absence of a special MTPL policy for taxis is grounds for suspension and subsequent cancellation of the permit. FSIS “Taxi” is integrated with our service to check whether partner carriers have permission to operate,” notes Maxim Shusharin, director of the managing organization of the taxi service “Maxim.” “Carriers collect and transmit data on compulsory motor liability insurance and OSGOP.”

“At the moment, checking the availability of an MTPL policy with the mark “for taxi” is done manually. The requirement to have an OSGOP will become mandatory from September 1. When the FSIS and AIS systems are integrated, reconciliation will occur automatically,” the Public Council for Taxi Development clarified. However, they fear that “unresolved problems in matters of taxi insurance under OSAGO, in particular the high cost of the policy and refusals from insurers, will be transmitted to OSGOP.” The council proposes to postpone the entry into force of the requirement until the problems with compulsory motor liability insurance are resolved.

“When applying for a special MTPL policy for a taxi car, a permit to operate is required, but MTPL almost does not work in the industry,” says Maxim Shusharin. “The policy costs several times more than a standard motor vehicle license, and if the car belongs to a taxi company, it is 10–12 times more expensive. This happens because in the Russian Federation, less than 15% of cars employed in the industry are registered as passenger taxis. Because of this, insurance companies see only a small part of the market, essentially only taxi companies. Due to incomplete statistics, they have a distorted understanding of taxi accident rates, which is why they charge high prices.”

“Many industry representatives believed that the implementation of the FSIS system would affect the cost of the trip,” says Orts Madayev, operating director of the transport company GTK-Holding. However, he clarifies, other factors are much more important: rising costs for taxi companies, increasing costs of cars and their maintenance, and the high price of compulsory motor insurance. Maxim Shusharin notes that, according to Maxim, 80–100% of all carriers are “virtually self-employed drivers with personal cars.” In the regions of the Russian Federation, he adds, about 90% of taxis are “part-time workers” who fulfill 65% of orders: “They will never buy compulsory motor insurance for taxis, because they work on personal cars and the costs will exceed the potential income.”

Alexey Zhabin, Daria Andrianova