Russia’s Taxi Industry Hits a Breaking Point as Prices Soar...

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/09/22/russias-taxi-industry-hits-a-breaking-point-as-prices-soar-migrants-shut-out-and-options-shrink-a90429

Luxury taxi service Wheely vanished from Moscow’s streets this month after a court ordered its blocking for refusing to share passenger data with the security services. 

Days later, St. Petersburg officials finalized a ban on migrant taxi drivers that will eliminate half the city’s workforce. Meanwhile, the country’s leading ride-hailing app Yandex warned customers to brace for surge pricing as students returned to university.

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Prices are already up 22% in 2025 compared with last year, with some popular routes increasing by 70%. Industry forecasts suggest fares could rise another 40-60% once new vehicle localization rules take effect in March 2026.

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A metaphor for Russia

The taxi industry’s decline has become a parable of modern Russia: a system where control trumps efficiency, xenophobia trumps economic sense and monopolies replace competition. 

The imagery is striking: empty taxi parks with idle vehicles, exhausted drivers working poverty wages, passengers unable to afford basic transportation and underground networks recreating Soviet-era informal economies. 

As one popular Moscow meme put it: “Moscow Never Sleeps — because nobody can afford the taxi home.”