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August/September 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 15
Moscow authorities prepare to regulate carpooling market
The transportation department of the City of Mos- cow is drafting a bill that would fine private drivers for accepting cash from carpooling passengers and block and/or fine carpool aggregators such as BlaBlaCar, BeepCar, and Yandex.Poputka, Kom- mersant daily reported on August 21 citing the copy of the bill.
Stringent regulation in the largest city in Russia could slow down the growing carpooling segment. Carsharing, car pooling and online taxi booking is an emerging business in Russia, attracting invest- ment and already subject to fierce competition. The total car sharing and taxi market in 2017-2025 will grow 2.5-fold to RUB1.6 trillion ($24bn) by Sberbank CIB.
Reportedly Moscow authorities plan to introduce special accreditation for carpooling platforms, set a ceiling for ride costs, only allow non-cash trans- actions, only allow drivers with experience of more than 3 years and without a criminal record or driving fines to register on the platforms, as well as introducing a mandatory medical check-up for driv- ers that accept over 20 carpooling rides per year.
At the same time in other markets carpooling initiatives are welcomed as means to increase passenger-per-car ratios, combat congestion and pollution. Previously Moscow suffered from chron- ic traffic jams and the taxi services and carpooling have contributed greatly to reducing the number of cars on the road and subsequently made a big difference to improving traffic conditions.
Broadband users in Montenegro rise 14.7% y/y in June
The number of broadband connections including ADSL, WiMAX, WiFi and KDS in Montenegro rose 14.7% y/y to 148,761 as of the end of
June, according to data from the country's telecoms agency, the Agency for Electronic
Communications and Postal Services of Montenegro (EKIP).
The number of broadband connections is con- stantly rising in the Adriatic country, which has a population of just over 600,000 people.
ADSL connections, which had a 37.87% market share, dropped 3% y/y to 56,329 at end-June. WiMax connections fell 13.7% y/y to 2,833, and their market share fell to 1.9% from 2.53%.
The market share of WiFi decreased y/y to 3.62% from 4.33%, while that of KDS connections went up to 29.67% from 29.09%. At the end of 2017, the number of broadband connections stood at 139,932.
Kazakh IT expert in trouble over comments alleged to “incite ethnic hatred”
Kazakhstan’s leading IT expert, Konstantin Gorozhankin, has been expelled from the board of directors of state internet conglomerate Qazcon- tent over claims he made on Facebook about the alleged rape of young boys in South Kazakhstan Province in the 19th century, the company’s chair- man Yevgeny Kochetov said on August 9.
Kazakh police are investigating his comments in response to allegations of “inciting ethnic hatred”. Gorozhkin, an ethnic Russian, wrote about "travelers to Kazakhstan in the 19th century [who] often mentioned in their diaries about bestiality and homosexuality among the local population." He also added that “it is all about genes”.
Gorozhkin offered apologies in a Facebook state- ment on August 9, claiming he did not aim to offend anyone with his comments.
Hungary's Extreme Digital retains title of biggest online retailer
Extreme Digital was ranked Hungary’s biggest online retailer last year for the fourth straight