Armenian Minister of Transport and Communication Gagik Beglaryan urges the Yandex Taxi management to sign contracts with licensed drivers only.
Beglaryan told reporters on June 30 that there ate 10,000 licensed taxi drivers in Armenia.
He said that he is aware of the taxi drivers' discontent and that he thinks that the company should conclude contracts with the licensed drivers in order to avoid problems. The minister is convinced that it is necessary to take measures to form a legal field, which will remove the flaws of the field and will resolve many problems related to the drivers' discontent.
The entry of the Yandex Taxi online taxi service into the Armenian market has sparked a massive outcry among the private taxi drivers and owners of taxi services, particularly GG online service. The representatives of the field stated at a press conference that the entry of Yandex Taxi to the Armenian market will create unequal competition conditions for other taxi services and private taxi drivers. Tigran Hovhannisyan, head of the Drivers' Protection League, particularly stated that the organization headed by him will do everything possible to prevent Yandex Taxi from entering the Armenian market. "Why are our taxis being licensed and those of Yandex Taxi are not?" Hovhannisyan said. He also stressed that if Yandex Taxi enters the Armenian market the field of taxi services will become monopolized.
To note, Yandex Taxi will launch its services on the Armenian market starting from July 1, 2016. The company will work with taxi services, not with private taxi drivers, and will receive a 10% commission fee. An online payment system will be available for Armenian clients starting from September 2016. Yandex Taxi intends to introduce new tariffs on the Armenian market, offering minimum 100 AMD for 2km and 100 AMD for each additional km. Currently, most of the Armenian taxis provide their services for 600 AMD for 3-4 km and 100 AMD for each additional km