Taxi drivers in Chelyabinsk demand extra pay for working in cold

With the start of the new year, real winter frosts have arrived in Chelyabinsk. According to weather forecasters, it will get cold again from January 21, schoolchildren are already looking forward to classes being canceled, but it«s not only children who want special conditions for themselves on frosty days. Taxi drivers have complained about the too low prices for rides in the cold, demanded the introduction of additional »frost coefficients« and threatened not to go to work without them. We found out what the largest aggregators think about this, and you can express your opinion in the survey.

“Work becomes unprofitable and dangerous”

The appeal on behalf of Chelyabinsk taxi drivers was sent to 74.RU by Evgeny, who has been working as a driver for more than 10 years. He and his colleagues consider air temperatures below -25°C (-13°F) to be «extreme conditions» for taxi work. At the same time, they note, the prices for rides in the cold remain at the level of a normal day, and sometimes even lower.

“Our costs are soaring, fuel consumption increases by 30-40%, wear and tear on the engine, chassis, and batteries is several times higher. There are risks to health and safety: long hours in the cold, slippery roads, increased accident rates,” the appeal states. “We don’t go out on the road for fun, we keep the city running in any weather. But now our work is becoming unprofitable and dangerous. We demand the urgent introduction of a «frost coefficient» to the tariffs of all aggregators at temperatures below -20°C (-4°F), a transparent recalculation of the economics of rides taking into account real costs in the cold, compensation for part of the fuel costs or the introduction of a fixed extra payment for trips in extreme conditions. If our voices are not heard, we will be forced to refuse to go out in such frosts. This is not blackmail, but the only way to survive.”

Evgeny explained that at least 25 of his colleagues in one drivers« chat share this position. They hope that the appeal will be supported by other taxi drivers and passengers.

“This will lead to a decrease in earnings”

Chelyabinsk driver Ivan agrees that a taxi driver«s job becomes harder in the cold:

“It«s simply uncomfortable to get into a frozen car in the morning or after a break, to be honest, and not everyone»s heaters work well, especially those who run on gas,” he said. “And our coefficients don’t depend on the cold, they are floating. It even happened that at minus 30 [degrees Celsius] (-22°F) I drove four people for 144 rubles (about $2 at current rates) — cheaper than public transport.”

But Dmitry from Korkino (in the Chelyabinsk region) considers the demands of his Chelyabinsk colleagues to be a whim:

“We don’t have any coefficients here at all, we work every day at the same rate,” the taxi driver noted. “And how is work in the cold harder? Are you carrying the frozen car on your back, or what? There are more orders, of course, but that’s good.”

Taxi services also commented on the Chelyabinsk drivers« appeal.

“In our service, as in others, dynamic pricing is applied,” representatives of Citimobil (Ситимобил) said in response to a request from 74.RU. “When extreme frosts set in in the city, there may be an occasional sharp increase in demand, as well as a periodic decrease in the number of cars on the road. The increased coefficient that the passenger sees is a direct reflection of this imbalance. This is not a separate «fee for frost», but our market tool that motivates drivers to go on the road despite increased fuel consumption and strain on the car.”

The increased coefficient when demand rises is also automatically applied by Maxim (Максим), service representatives said.

“The price of a ride depends not only on the driver’s costs, it is clearly limited by the amount the passenger is willing to pay. The higher the price, the fewer passengers are willing to place an order. For drivers, this means downtime and will lead not to an increase, but to a decrease in earnings,” added Maxim.

Representatives of Yandex.Taxi (Яндекс.Такси) noted that during the first working week, the demand for rides in Chelyabinsk increased by a quarter, accordingly, taxi drivers have more opportunities to earn.

“The income of drivers in Chelyabinsk is stable — now on average it is more than 700 rubles per hour (about $9 at current rates), which is 7% higher than last winter. Also, drivers can increase their income by receiving bonuses, for example, for meeting ride targets or for orders in certain areas of the city,” added the service’s press service.

Note that in 2025, taxi rides became much more expensive, and experts predict a new price increase: this time due to the localization law.