Self-employed individuals are set to be permitted to work in the taxi sector on a permanent basis. This was announced during a transport meeting chaired by Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Passenger transportation with private vehicles has been included in the list of permitted activities for the self-employed since September 2022, provided they obtain a license annually. The new regulations were initially intended to be in effect until the end of 2024.
However, a government decree from December 26 instructed the Ministry of Transport, in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, to develop a draft regulatory act within a month that extends the validity of these regulations. Additionally, until the new regulations are adopted, the previous ones will be extended as an exception.
Since the implementation of this reform, the number of legalized private carriers has increased sixfold, reaching 457,000. "It has been determined that this procedure will operate on a permanent basis," the announcement stated.
It was also noted that the number of players in the taxi aggregator market has surpassed 150 and continues to grow. The President has tasked regulating the operations of these services and clearly defining their obligations to the state, drivers, and passengers.
Additionally, the topic of freight transportation was raised. The fleet of local transport companies consists of 26,000 vehicles, which is seven times more than in 2017, and their share in cross-border transport from Uzbekistan and to the country has reached 60%.
However, delivery times for freight in the western direction have doubled, and costs have increased by 1.5 times. This was due to the closure of certain border crossing points in European countries and long waiting times at other border crossings.
The head of state has instructed measures to simplify transit via alternative routes. The objective is to achieve a reduction or cancellation of entry fees on a mutual basis for other countries.
Local freight forwarding companies will be exempt from VAT for services in the field of international transport. Overall, there are plans to double the volume of this sector and increase the export of transport services to $3 billion.
Tasks have also been outlined to expand transit through the territory of Uzbekistan. To this end, it is planned to implement an electronic queue at the checkpoints and expedite border crossing to 20 minutes, as well as launch online monitoring of transport.
Previously, Spot reported that Yandex Go will add trip price details to its application.