Digital transportation and logistics platforms such as Yandex.Taxi, Maxim, CDEK, and others have transformed the transportation industry, providing more flexible and convenient solutions for users. However, despite significant advantages, they face a number of challenges that require a comprehensive approach to address. This is especially relevant given the enormous popularity of these services in Russia, a country with the cheapest, most convenient, and most developed taxi services in the world.
According to available data, nearly 1 billion trips are made annually in Russia using digital platforms. Digital platforms also control a large share of the taxi market: Yandex.Taxi accounts for approximately 96% of the market in Moscow. This figure approaches 80% nationwide.
Despite the immense popularity of these services, users and platforms face a number of challenges, the key one being legal and regulatory complications: transportation platforms often find themselves
in a legal vacuum, as current legislation in many countries was developed before the emergence of these services. This creates problems with driver classification, tax obligations,
and licensing. Also related to this factor is the issue of passenger and driver safety: although platforms are implementing security measures such as driver background checks and rating systems,
there has been a disturbing increase in recent years in the industry's crimes "on the ground," which the platforms have no control over.