The average check for taxi rides increased by 15% over the year

Rising car costs, a shortage of drivers and glitches in GPS have led to an increase in the average bill for taxi rides in Moscow. According to the results of the first half of the year, the cost of services in Russia increased by an average of 4-11% year-on-year, and in Moscow by 12-15%, calculated in the Check Index and Tinkoff Data. And if difficulties with GPS are no longer widespread, then the shortage of drivers in the summer is aggravated, which affects prices, experts say.

According to the results of the first half of the year, the average bill for a taxi in Moscow increased by 12%, to 771 rubles, in Russia as a whole – by 4%, to 435 rubles. year on year, calculated at the request of “Kommersant” analysts “Index Check”. According to Tinkoff Data, the average check in Moscow in January-June increased by 15%, to 496 rubles, and in Russia – by 11%, to 293 rubles. Tinkoff Data said demand for taxi rides has remained “quite stable” over the past year. However, according to the Check Index, in the first half of the year, the number of purchases in the taxi category in Russia increased by 11%, in Moscow – by 19% year-on-year.

Taxi ordering services are forced to adjust their pricing policy, including due to the rise in the cost of cars, their maintenance, rising prices for gasoline, spare parts, car washes, Citymobil says. Yandex Go clarifies that the cost of a trip is made up of many factors: the fare, the volume of demand for trips, the number of free cars on the line, the distance and duration of the trip.

Irina Zaripova, chairman of the public council for the development of taxis, adds that the cost of a taxi ride is also affected by the rise in the cost of OSAGO, the change in prices could be affected by logistics complicated for some drivers due to problems with GPS navigation in Moscow. Problems with GPS in the center of Moscow followed the attack of unmanned aerial vehicles on the Kremlin, because of which taxi services had to introduce additional methods of determining the location (see “Kommersant” of May 19).

Drivers needed more time to find customers, the duration of the trip also increased, which ultimately is also included in the cost of the trip, agrees the head of the All-Russian Association of Passengers Ilya Zotov. However, he said the impact of problems with satellite location on taxi prices “was not critical.” Citymobil also says it has not seen a significant change in the cost of travel due to difficulties with geolocation in Moscow.

Irina Zaripova explains that there are several so-called gray areas in Moscow, for example, in the Moscow City area and near the Kremlin, where short-term interruptions in geolocation were periodically observed before, and this year the situation has worsened. Now, according to Ms. Zaripova, local difficulties with GPS navigation remain, but “they are no longer of the same nature as in May and June.” The Federal Antimonopoly Service told Kommersant that they did not observe an increase in the number of complaints about taxi ordering services.

The rise in the cost of cars, the increase in the cost of their maintenance and operation also leads to a partial outflow of the number of drivers working in the field, says Irina Zaripova. This year, the expert adds, the shortage of personnel has increased due to partial mobilization.

According to Avito Rabota, in the first half of 2023, the taxi industry became the leader in terms of growth in employer demand, ahead of courier delivery among other things. The number of vacancies in taxis has grown almost nine times year-on-year, according to Avito Rabota. According to HeadHunter, the number of vacancies for taxi drivers grew by 41% year-on-year. The average salary of taxi drivers in Moscow is also growing. According to the Salary Index, in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, the indicator increased by 17.2%, on average, to 112.5 thousand rubles. per month.

The taxi service “Maxim” says that the number of drivers cooperating with the company is constantly increasing, and the number of registrations of new drivers does not exceed the usual figures. According to Irina Zaripova, the seasonality factor also plays a significant role in the demand for taxi drivers. A small outflow of drivers is observed in the summer, when some of them leave for other jobs or vacations, they say in Maxim. Therefore, the cost of travel in the summer tends to be higher, add up there. According to Ms. Zaripova, the situation with the shortage of taxi drivers usually evens out with the onset of autumn.

Alina Savitskaya, Khalil Aminov