In Syktyvkar, taxi drivers have held a strike against lowering ride costs and increasing the average vehicle’s arrival distance. It used to be 2.6 km, now it is 3.7 km. At the same time, the minimum price for a ride decreased to 59 rubles. In the evening of December 6, taxi drivers gathered on the territory of the Mebelgrad Mall to discuss further plans for working with the aggregator.
On December 6, some taxi drivers refused to accept orders during rush hours - from 7 am to 9 am and from 5 pm to 7 pm. The reason was the decrease in the minimum ride cost (to 59 rubles) and the increase in the vehicle’s arrival distance (from 2.6 to 3.7 km) from December 1. Taxi drivers made the decision on the strike at a meeting on December 2, which was held in a parking lot at the Lenta Mall. In the evening of December 6, the drivers held a second meeting at the Mebelgrad Mall. More than two dozen drivers have attended it.
Taxi driver Evgeny told 7x7’s correspondent that it had become unprofitable to work with the aggregator on new terms and compared the ride cost with the prices in 2014:
“It is not an option to work via the Economy tariff at all. But people do, so it is okay with them. But personally, I cannot work for 70 rubles. Orders should approximately cost at least from 100 rubles. In 2014, orders cost 110 rubles, but now people work for 70. They are fine with that. I do not think so. Because repair parts and gasoline are getting more expensive.”
The drivers say that few people supported the protest, most continued working during rush hours. According to the BNK Media Outlet’s source, about 80 drivers of Yandex.Go stayed home and refused to accept orders from passengers on December 6.
"Most of them are working today, because half of them drive rented cars. You have to pay for the car, like it or not," taxi driver Andrei commented on the strike.
Drivers believe that Yandex.Go should increase the minimum ride cost and reduce the arrival distance to 2 km. Otherwise, they intend to stop working with the aggregator.
"We expect that we will be heard and Yandex Taxi will make some kind of interim decision that would suit both passengers and drivers," said taxi driver Sergei.
At the same time, Yandex.Go’s press relations service claims that the average income of drivers cooperating with the company has increased by 16% over the past six months in Syktyvkar. Drivers from Syktyvkar currently earn an average of about 350–400 rubles per hour via the Economy tariff.
The Taxist (‘taxi driver’) Activist Telegram-channel reported that along with Syktyvkar, taxi drivers from Iskitim (Novosibirsk Oblast), Ufa, Shymkent (Kazakhstan), Arzamas and Volgograd had joined the protest. A strike is planned in Kovrov.
