Yandex go, the company which has been talked about in Tajikistan for months, said last week that it intends to enter the Tajik market.

Its online travel booking service has reportedly operated in the country since February 15.   The reaction immediately followed this – the Dushanbe Administration said that the activity of the service in the country is illegal and the law enforcement agencies have detained taxi drivers who began to work with it.  

Commenting on the situation, the company told Asia-Plus on February 22 that it operates in Tajikistan in accordance with the country’s legislation.  

“The model of the online travel booking service itself is new to the country, and therefore, our service can be mistaken for carrier, but it is not so.

“Yandex go is an international information platform.  We do not have our own drivers and cars.  We work with local partner carriers, who, in turn, cooperate with the drivers and provide transport services to users,” the company’s written response reads.  

“Essentially, our platform helps users place their travel requests through the app and help, and helps transport carriers find them,” the company notes.  

Yandex Go is an app to request rides, order food from restaurants, carsharing or send items across city.

Carsharing is a membership based service available to all qualified drivers in a community. No separate written agreement is required each time a member reserves and uses a vehicle. All CSOs offer members access to a dispersed network of shared vehicles 24-hours, 7 days a week at unattended self-service locations.

Owned by the Russia-based internet company Yandex, Yandex go (called Yango in some countries) is a ride-hailing, delivery and e-grocery service operating in more than 1,000 cities, including 300 large cities across Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Serbia, Israel, Ivory Coast, Finland, Ghana, Romania, Norway, and Bolivia.  In the latter seven countries, it operates under a brand called Yango.  More than 700,000 drivers are reportedly connected to the network.