2023-11-14 14:44:27
A minibus involved in an accident near Smolevichi on February 20. Photo: Ministry of Internal Affairs
A meeting held on November 14 by Alexander Lukashenko was devoted to the topic of “establishing order” in passenger transportation.
“Today we need to thoroughly understand and establish uniform rules of the game for everyone. Tough, transparent and understandable. There is no need to put pressure on anyone, poison them, fire them, etc. The rules of the game are the same for everyone! And for legal and illegal, organized and unorganized. According to the same rules. A step to the left, a step to the right… It is necessary to determine what functions the state assumes as a regulator: how total control will be exercised in this area, what additional responsibilities carriers will have,” demanded the politician, opening the meeting.
He stated that “clear and fair rules” are not followed by all participants in this business. Thus, over 9 months of 2023, a little more than 10 thousand cars were checked. About 9 thousand violations were identified.
“The worst thing is that illegal immigrants deliberately evade the safety requirements that apply to regular carriers: having the required driver’s category and experience. People are driven by anyone who wants them, and then there are wild accidents. There is no experience, no category, no permission to fly, no technical inspection, work and rest schedules are not observed. These drivers bomb from morning to evening. Because this is money for the owner. Such an attitude towards the matter will sooner or later lead to a tragedy similar to the one in the Smolevichi region, where a dozen and a half people died, including children,” Alexander Lukashenko was quoted as saying by his press service.
From a financial point of view, law enforcement agencies most often detect concealment of revenue, business fragmentation, salaries in envelopes, and non-payment of taxes.
“We, Roman Aleksandrovich (Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko – UDF note), need to toughen the punishment for real things: if you fragmented your business – answer. Didn’t pay taxes… Listen, whoever reproaches us: in America you can get life imprisonment for tax evasion – it’s a democratic country,” Lukashenko noted. – Hence the unfair competition with legal carriers, which affects the work of the entire road transport industry. That is, they drive around without a system, steal, steal, and don’t pay taxes. Of course, what buses and others can compete with them?! That is, unequal conditions. Don’t we see this?
As a result, according to him, budget losses amount to tens of millions of rubles, and conscientious carriers are forced to close their businesses and fire people.
For the meeting, the government prepared a draft Decree regulating relations in the field of road passenger transportation. Possible innovations in this area also became a topic of discussion at the meeting with the president.
In particular, the document proposes to organize a register of legal carriers, dispatchers and other participants in the process.
“I think you will decide which others. So that we again do not have any opportunities there to evade the rules. Anyone who is not included in this register turns out to be outside the law, his activities will be identified and suppressed by regulatory authorities,” Lukashenko said.
In addition, in order to reduce the import of services and reduce the risk of leakage of personal data of citizens, the draft decree establishes the right of foreign companies to provide services as a dispatcher for the transportation of passengers in irregular traffic (taxi dispatcher) only if they create a legal entity in the territory of Belarus. They will also be required to use information systems and resources located on the territory of Belarus in their activities.
In order to increase the level of safety for carriers, it is planned to establish an obligation to video record passenger transportation.
The draft Decree also provides mechanisms for suspension and exclusion from the register for unscrupulous carriers.
Lukashenko has put forward new requirements for taxi aggregators in Belarus
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