Customers have used the Max messenger to verify their age when purchasing 18+ category goods more than 1 million times. The number continues to grow daily, State Secretary - Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Roman Chekushov told reporters.
The service operates in 18 of the country's largest retailers — in a total of more than 70,000 stores. The buyer presents not a physical document, but a digital identifier in the application; the seller scans it and receives confirmation.
Recently, a function for confirming the status of a pensioner has been added to the age verification — for the automatic application of discounts and benefits at the checkout.
Max ID debuted in September 2025. The messenger's audience by the end of January 2026 amounted to 89 million users.
Earlier, the government obliged all retail outlets in the country to accept digital confirmation via Max from September 1, 2026.
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