The Taxi Law, which has been discussed for about a decade, has come into force.

On September 1, the law on the organization of passenger transportation by passenger taxi came into force, the discussion of which lasted for about ten years. From now on, aggregators are jointly and severally liable in case of an accident if the order is handed over to the driver without a work permit. Driving a taxi is prohibited to citizens with an outstanding criminal record, as well as drivers with three or more unpaid fines for traffic violations. The regions have been given the right to introduce “certification” of drivers for knowledge of the local transport infrastructure and memorable places. At the same time, aggregators must provide the FSB with round-the-clock access to their databases.

The law “On the organization of transportation of passengers and luggage by passenger taxis in the Russian Federation” was adopted by the State Duma in December 2022. The Russian government introduced the document to parliament in April last year, but in fact the so-called taxi law has been discussed for about ten years. It contains many innovations in the industry, including requirements for aggregators. Until now, these services were practically absent in the legal field, but with the adoption of the law, they received the status of “services for ordering a passenger taxi”. A federal state information system for passenger taxis is being created, containing registers about aggregators, cars and their owners, as well as about carriers – companies and citizens with work licenses. As conceived by legislators, orders to aggregators should come after checking the carrier, driver and car according to all three mentioned registers.

Aggregators are held responsible in the case of passengers injured in an accident – if the order was transferred to a driver who does not have or has a work permit cancelled.

In this case, the aggregator is jointly and severally liable for the accident. While the subsidiary responsibility of the ordering service should be borne with the carriers if the insurance does not cover the harm to the passenger in an accident.

The law imposes its own requirements on taxi drivers: they must not have outstanding convictions under a number of articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (including robbery, robbery and murder), medical contraindications for driving, as well as three or more unpaid fines for traffic violations the day before transportation . At the same time, self-employed citizens will now be able to work under an agreement with aggregators without creating an IP (but they will have to undergo a pre-trip medical examination at their own expense). Note that in June 2023, the government of the Russian Federation approved by Decree No. 908 “working time standards” for taxi drivers – no more than ten hours a day (it is possible to extend this period by two hours to complete the order) and no more than 40 hours a week.

The regions also received their regulatory powers. Thus, the authorities of the subject will be able to introduce “certification” of drivers for knowledge of the objects of “transport infrastructure” and historical monuments in their region. The procedure for attestation can be established by the subject itself. Drivers who have not passed such a procedure may be prohibited from working in a taxi. The law requires that “checkers” (“a color-graphic scheme of squares of a contrasting color arranged in a checkerboard pattern”) be applied to the body of a taxi and an orange lantern be mounted on the roof. The body color of a taxi is allowed to be determined by regional authorities. In Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sevastopol, authorities can also set minimum fares for travel.

Another innovation is the obligation of aggregators to provide the FSB of the Russian Federation with access to databases used to receive, store, process and transfer orders.

Decree No. 1101 of the Government of the Russian Federation, adopted in July 2023, stipulates that we are talking about “24-hour remote access” (previously, such data was provided to special services upon request within three to ten days). In August 2023, the press service of the largest aggregator Yandex.Taxi assured that law enforcement agencies would not get access to “information about user trips outside of Russia.”

The head of the All-Russian Association of Passengers, Ilya Zotov, calls the main task of the law to improve the structure of the market, “legalize as many drivers as possible” and provide passengers with safe services. In the latter case, the expert mentions the prohibition of work for drivers with outstanding convictions, the need to purchase OSAGO and OSGOP policies (compulsory civil liability insurance for carriers). “The law has come into force, but the situation is quite calm. We monitored: on September 1, the drivers left (to work.— “b”) is about the same number as always, and taxi prices have not increased,” added Mr. Zotov.

Alexander Voronov