MOSCOW, July 6 (RAPSI) – Bill toughening several requirements for online taxi services has been submitted to the State Duma, the statement of the upper house of Russian parliament reads on Thursday.

According to the bill, only partner-drivers with appropriate permits and without criminal record may collaborate with online services.

Authors of the bill believe that status of online taxi services is not legally defined offering them unfair advantage over competitors and significantly lowering safety of transportation. In addition, there are no clear rules on the market as some companies are demanding too much from their partner-drivers, including holding job interviews, while others barely follow Russian legislation.

On June 21, the Supreme Court of Russia dismissed an appeal filed by Uber Technology, the Russian firm operating under Uber brand, against a 100,000-ruble ($1,785) fine for misleading consumers as to who actual carriers are. Russia’s consumer rights watchdog (Rospotrebnadzor) believes that a consumer gets an impression that the transportation service is provided by Uber company but in fact this service is provided by Uber’s partner-drivers. Consumers are not informed about the results of medical examination and licensing of taxi drives as well as consumer qualities of transfer service.