Taxi companies have appealed to the Russian authorities with a proposal to maintain the possibility of transporting passengers in foreign cars even after the law on taxi localization comes into force. The initiative group sent an appeal to the State Duma, in which it requests the extension of regional quotas of 25% for the use of non-localized cars.
At the end of last year, the State Duma adopted a bill that temporarily exempts self-employed drivers from the need to change foreign cars to localized ones: 25% of the total number of registered taxis in each region will be able to continue using foreign cars. Now, taxi companies themselves are making a similar request.
According to experts, if this measure is adopted, about 500 taxi companies will be able to receive a quota, which will bring additional tax revenues of up to 3-5 billion rubles per year. Without transitional mechanisms, only large road carriers will be able to fulfill the localization requirements.
It remains unclear who exactly will receive this benefit — the drivers themselves who rent cars, or taxi companies that have the right to defer the replacement of foreign cars. A letter with the proposal was sent to the head of the State Duma Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Development, Yevgeny Moskvichev, who declined to comment to journalists.
The law on the localization of cars for taxis, signed by President Vladimir Putin on May 23, 2025, will come into force on March 1, 2026. The list of cars allowed to work in taxis, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, currently includes 22 models of six brands: Lada, UAZ, Sollers, Evolute, Voyah and "Moskvich".
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