UNIT.City — місце, де люди працюють... КРАЩЕ! Обирай свій простір просто зараз 👉
Ігор Вишневський That's Life
4 February 2026, 09:00
2026-02-04
"What's next? Barista certificate and QR code for coffee machine?" Taxi services are not happy with the government's idea of driver certification and new requirements for car-hailing platforms. What taxi market participants say
Last week, news appeared in the media about a large-scale reform of the taxi market planned by the authorities. With the light hand of the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development, a draft law «On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Regulating Passenger Transportation by Taxi or Passenger Cars on Order» was developed. It is reported that at present the draft law is only being submitted for approval to the State Regulatory Service, so there is no talk of its adoption yet — it has not even been registered in parliament. Nevertheless, this does not cancel plans for the future reform, so it caused quite a stir.
Last week, news appeared in the media about a large-scale reform of the taxi market planned by the authorities. With the light hand of the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development, a draft law «On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Regulating Passenger Transportation by Taxi or Passenger Cars on Order» was developed. It is reported that at present the draft law is only being submitted for approval to the State Regulatory Service, so there is no talk of its adoption yet — it has not even been registered in parliament. Nevertheless, this does not cancel plans for the future reform, so it caused quite a stir.
Taxi market reform is a «bearded» topic that has been arising for many years with a certain frequency, but, despite everything, it has never reached the final stage. Back in 2010, the then Ministry of Transport developed a draft law that provided for fines for taxi drivers working illegally, in 2014-2015 there were new initiatives on this issue, and in 2019 another concept for regulating the taxi market was presented with the participation of BRDO. Its name echoed the slogans of the presidential campaign at the time — «Let’s go in a new way.» However, no one ever went in a new way.
It is difficult to say how it will be this time, because the previous experience of (un)reforming the taxi market speaks for itself. Nevertheless, dev.ua asked for comments directly from market players, trying to find out what they think about the new initiative. It is worth adding that the new draft law, if adopted, will cover both «traditional» taxi services and online taxi-hailing platforms such as Uklon, Bolt and Uber.
Key innovations: certificates, interaction with platforms and fines
One of the most discussed innovations proposed by the draft law of the Ministry of Regional Development is a driver’s certificate, which is «issued by the central executive body implementing the state policy on transport safety, on a paid basis for a period of 2 years.» The fee for issuing such a certificate is set at one subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons, which currently amounts to UAH 3,328. To obtain a certificate, the driver must submit an application with a number of data and documents, and its issuance must be carried out using the Unified Complex of Information Systems in the Field of Ground Transport Safety.
In addition, the bill stipulates mandatory interaction of the driver with a platform for ordering transportation services, which means any software, including a website or application. If the taxi service does not have a modern application, to which residents of large cities are so accustomed, then a dispatch service that accepts orders by phone is equated with such «platforms».
In addition to the innovations already mentioned, a new initiative to reform the taxi market will require drivers to have a «unique electronic identifier» in the cabin and under the windshield — for example, a QR code through which the passenger can obtain information about the driver and his taxi. The draft law, in addition to all of the above, establishes requirements for the marking of taxi cars, raid inspections of taxi services by regulatory authorities, requirements for who can be a driver, and fines for failure to comply with numerous requirements, which can be quite significant (500-2000 tax-free minimum incomes, or 8500 — 34000 UAH).
«Uklon is in a working dialogue with the relevant ministry»
Mykola Soroka, Head of GR at Uklon in Ukraine, claims that overall, Uklon positively perceives the state’s intention to update the regulatory framework and reduce many years of legislative uncertainty.
«We support processes aimed at modernizing the market and increasing the transparency of rules, and note that a significant part of the proposed approaches in terms of security and digitalization have already been implemented in the company’s activities,» he noted in a comment to dev.ua.
Nevertheless, in his opinion, certain provisions of the draft law require further revision.
«First of all, this concerns the need to clearly distinguish between the status of a digital platform and a direct service provider, as the absence of such a norm creates risks of legal uncertainty for the platform model and may lead to unjustified liability on the platform for the actions of independent partners,» says Mykola Soroka.
According to a representative of the Uklon company, in the same context, approaches to driver certificates require additional attention — in particular, the issues of the cost and pace of introducing new requirements, which may create excessive barriers to market entry.
«In other words, the regulatory model should be built in such a way as not to create excessive administrative pressure and not to form unjustified barriers to market access, in particular for small businesses and self-employed individuals,» he believes.
Among other things, Mykola Soroka emphasizes the need to ensure equal regulatory conditions. «The introduction of mandatory technical inspection for certain categories of vehicles without the simultaneous introduction of a mandatory technical inspection for all vehicles creates a risk of discrimination against platform economy participants and a violation of the principle of equality of business entities,» emphasizes the head of the GR department of Uklon.
Soroka also draws attention to the fact that the draft law contains a number of norms with vague wording and broad discretionary powers of the regulator, which may lead to uneven application of the law, increased corruption risks, and reduced predictability of the regulatory environment.
According to him, Uklon is in a working dialogue with the relevant ministry and is involved in discussing the provisions of the draft law at the expert level: the company is preparing a package of proposals and editorial amendments aimed at clarifying individual norms and eliminating the specified risks, taking into account the specifics of the platform economy.
In addition, Uklon reminded that they are waiting for the implementation of another initiative — bill No. 14025 on the international automatic exchange of information on income received through digital platforms. The company sees this bill as a systemic solution for fair and proportionate tax regulation of the digital services sector.
«It is advisable to provide for a transition period of at least six months»
Yulia Malich, Bolt’s public policy manager, assures dev.ua that the company supports a general approach to reforming the taxi market, which could result in increased passenger safety, transparency, and the establishment of uniform rules of the game.
«It is important that the proposed model is digitalized and generally corresponds to practices already used in EU countries. The market has needed such regulation for a long time,» she highlights the positives.
At the same time, Bolt’s public policy manager considers a comprehensive movement in this direction to be a fundamentally important issue. In particular, in her opinion, in parallel with the reform of the taxi market, it is advisable to promote draft law No. 14025 on the international automatic exchange of information on income received through digital platforms.
«This should become a systemic basis for increasing transparency, tax fairness, and sustainable development of the market,» she believes.
According to Yulia Malich, there are a number of points in the proposed bill that should be technically and legally clarified in order for the reform to work — the first of which concerns insurance, and the second — the implementation of a transition period.
According to the company representative, Bolt already provides insurance coverage for trips, but it is important to clearly determine how the regulatory requirements for insurance and the real possibilities of the insurance market correlate within the new model. «Today, the cost of insurance products for taxis remains high, so it is necessary to find a balanced mechanism that will increase the level of safety without creating barriers to work,» Yulia Malich believes.
Also, in her opinion, for the reconfiguration of internal processes, in particular certification, technical inspections, document verification and necessary integrations, it is advisable to provide for a transition period of at least six months after the law enters into force. «This will avoid chaotic implementation of changes and ensure high-quality implementation of requirements,» Yulia Malich argues.
In her opinion, these issues can be finalized in a working order in a constructive dialogue with the market and relevant authorities. When developing the draft law, as Malich says, the position of Bolt was also taken into account.
«Since the beginning of 2025, we have been in constant dialogue with representatives of the ministry: we initiated discussions on the need to regulate the market, shared European experience and provided our own proposals,» she says.
The general direction of the reform is assessed positively by the company, so they are ready to continue working with the ministry to clarify technical and legal details.
«Current legislation describes the market as it was the day before yesterday. And the proposed project describes the situation as of yesterday»
The founder of Taxi Bond, a deputy of the Odessa City Council and programmer Petro Obukhov, in a comment to dev.ua, was somewhat more categorical about potential innovations, although he noted that their company supports the idea of bringing order to this market.
«The so-called „OLX law“ introduces a fairly transparent and simple system of taxation of drivers and couriers. In our opinion, this is the main problem in the current market. Currently, a significant number of drivers and couriers are not registered as individual entrepreneurs or employees, so they do not pay taxes on this activity. Although, in essence, this is either work or a self-employed business. And the introduction of the tax is fair to those who conscientiously pay taxes,» he expressed his opinion.
At the same time, Petro Obukhov considers additional requirements and the introduction of new certificates not only an unnecessary complication and additional bureaucracy, but also a potentially corruptive norm. «The basis for transporting passengers in your own car is already a driver’s license. What is the legal difference — transporting your children, wife or parents in your own car, or passengers of a taxi service? In both cases, the driver is responsible for the passengers and there are requirements that he must fulfill in order to obtain a driver’s license,» the founder of Taxi Bond is convinced.
Obukhov called the bill’s requirements for car labeling «relics of the past, absolutely unnecessary in the modern world.» In his opinion, all these issues have already been successfully resolved by market mechanisms and do not require state intervention.
«I would say that the current legislation describes the market as it was the day before yesterday. And the proposed project describes the situation as of yesterday. It no longer corresponds to today’s realities,» says Petro Obukhov.
In his opinion, the very idea of introducing any additional certificates is wrong. «What next? A barista certificate and a QR code on a coffee machine? A barber certificate and a QR code on a razor and hairdryer?», the founder of Taxi Bond draws analogies.
According to Petro Obukhov, no official consultations were held with their company regarding the aforementioned bill, but within the framework of the discussion of another bill — on taxation of income through digital platforms — he communicated with people’s deputies and expressed support for the basic principles laid down in it — de-shadowing of the market and fair taxation without excessive regulatory burden.
«Taxi has transformed from a „comfort service“ into a critically important element of urban infrastructure»
In turn, Opti Taxi 579 emphasizes that it has always advocated transparent rules of the game and civilized development of the industry, but at the same time expresses the belief that «any fundamental reform should take place at a time favorable for the economy.»
«Currently, Ukraine is in a state of unprecedented turbulence. During the war, constant blackouts, and disruptions in public transport, taxis have transformed from a „comfort service“ into a critically important element of urban infrastructure,» the company notes.
Opti Taxi 579 is convinced that for many Ukrainians, a taxi is now the only way to get home, to the train station, hospital, pharmacy, or emergency room on time, so the industry now needs maximum liberalization, not additional regulatory pressure.
The company believes that a deep legal analysis of the new legislative initiative requires extensive study by legal professionals and industry experts.
«We do not take on the role of legal arbitrators, but we see a conceptual risk: the establishment of paid certificates and new fines during the war could lead to an outflow of drivers and an increase in the cost of services for the end consumer,» Opti Taxi 579 expressed their position.
The company believes that any systemic changes are not the time now, as we need to focus on business survival and supporting the economy. «When peace comes, we will be ready for a substantive dialogue on the implementation of the best European regulatory practices. Right now, our priority is to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine, help the military, and preserve jobs,» Opti Taxi 579 said.
They emphasized that to date, no one has contacted their company for official expert comments or consultations regarding this draft law, although Opti Taxi 579 believes that effective reform is impossible without an open dialogue with all major market players.
«Currently, Ukrainian business is going through perhaps the most difficult times in its history. We are holding on, continuing to move and believe that the main thing is stable work in this difficult time and support for Ukrainian business,» Opti Taxi 579 summarized, adding that the company is ready to cooperate with government agencies, but calls for a balanced approach.
Bolt company told how much taxi drivers earn in Ukraine and what it’s like to compete with Yandex in the markets of other countries when the latter «turns on the oil money tap»
