Only yellow taxicabs to remain in Moscow by 2018

In 2018, all Moscow taxicabs will be yellow, as the last taxi licences granted to companies five years ago under the old regulations expire next year. Back then, taxi operators received licences irrespective of the colour of their car fleets. However, as of June 2013, in keeping with the city regulation On Taxi Service in Moscow, only yellow cars can obtain licences. Cars will have to follow the uniform standard so that passengers can tell legal taxis from illegal ones.

“According to our estimates, 1 July 2018 is the day when the last licence for non-yellow cars expires,” said Deputy Mayor, Head of the Department for Transport and Road Infrastructure Development Maxim Liksutov.

He said that operators will have no problems switching to yellow cars.

The Deputy Mayor also noted that the taxi market is completely legal now. If in 2011 about 12,000 taxi licences were granted, at present there are over 82,000. Among the city’s taxi operators, there are over 1,000 legal entities and over 6,400 self-employed entrepreneurs.

According to amendments to the federal law On Road Traffic Safety that came into effect on 1 June 2017, bus, truck, utility vehicles and taxi drivers working on Russian territory must have Russian driving licences.

According to Deputy Mayor Liksutov, all taxi companies were informed of the new law requirements in advance.

“Primarily the law hits unauthorised taxi drivers. Those who wanted to continue providing legal cabbing services took a driving licence exam in due course and received a Russian licence,” the Deputy Mayor said.

He added that drivers’ possession of Russian licences will first of all have an impact on the legality and safety of taxi services.

“This is a priority requirement that the Department for Transport sets for all participants in the cabbing market,” Maxim Liksutov said.

The Department for Transport signed agreements with a number of taxicab companies, including City Mobil and Vezyot. Similar agreements exist with taxi aggregators Yandex Taxi, Gett and Uber. Cabbing companies are required to inform the Department for Transport of the itineraries of cars connected to the system. All data is anonymous, without reference to the car number. This information is used to assess passenger traffic flow and congestion in the city.

Over the last three years, using a taxi in Moscow has become 30 percent cheaper. The average waiting time is seven minutes now.