Penza, 6 June 2011. PenzaNews. The Penza drivers hold protest against the new federal law on a taxi. Fixing black ribbons on the aerials, handles and mirrors of their cars drivers intend to show that the new law will complicate the work of taxi-drivers and will not improve the quality of service in any way.

The new law, in particular, obliges driver to register their activity as the individual businessman, to use a taximeter, to make an agreement of chartering of a vehicle, to give a receipt and a check to each passenger, to make the list of people he transported.

The Head of the Penza Company "GPS-Taxi" Ivan Legostayev said: "According to the plan of public authorities of the country, the introduction of the new law should prevent the development of illegal business and "gypsy cab drivers".

But in his opinion, the number of "illegals" would increase when the new law would come in force.

He said: "The new law will provoke a situation when 60–70 % of the taxi services in Penza will be closed. It will be unprofitable to continue their work. Besides, more than half of all drivers either will leave the taxi-work, or will continue it illegally".

Ivan Legostayev explained that according to the new law each taxi driver should be registered as individual entrepreneur. According to his calculating, in this case the taxi driver should put a taximeter in the car and to pay 7 thousand rubles taxes a quarter.

Ivan Legostayev said: "Only those drivers who work in a taxi during the whole day will be able to pay such money. At the same time, it's just part-time job for many taxi-drivers, so that the person can work only in the evenings and on days off. These drivers should make the decision to stop their work in the taxi-service or continue to do this illegally".

He noticed that they would be the client who first of all would suffer from this new law. First, the prices will raise and secondly because of the decreasing of many taxi companies the person calling a taxi will have to wait for half an hour at least.

The Head of the taxi-service said: "This law is the closed chapter. Taximeters have already been used, and after some time they were canceled. I think, the new law will last only maximum for a year".

The federal law "About modification of some acts of the Russian Federation" including the points regulating activity of automobile taxi, was accepted by the State Duma of the Russian Federation on April, 11th and approved by the Federation Council on April, 13th.