At a special meeting on May 6, new working rules were announced for Ashgabat taxi drivers, Radio Azatlyk reports .
Taxi drivers were limited to 70 km/h. No more than three passengers can now be in the car, and women cannot be placed in the front seat next to the driver. Taxi drivers who violate these regulations will be fined.
Drivers say the new rules will make it harder to keep up with the daily plan.
The publication also reports that the capital has strengthened measures against drivers involved in private transport. In addition to the seizure and delivery of a car to a car impound with the subsequent payment of a fine, the driver can receive 15 days of arrest.
Earlier, the ban on women sitting in the front seat in cars was reported by Turkmen news, according to which, it is not only about taxis - public and private, but also about trips in their own cars. A woman should not sit next to the driver, even if he is a father, brother or husband. And in the back seat can be no more than two passengers.
On April 29, Azatlyk wrote that in the Balkan velayat, women were not only banned from occupying the front seat in cars (the driver will be fined 7,000 manats for this), but generally being in cars after 20:00.
The country also periodically imposes a tacit ban on the issuance and renewal of driving licenses for women. The last time it was recorded at the end of 2020. In January 2021, the Ashgabat police resumed accepting documents for the renewal of women's driving licenses.
Control over the situation on the capital's roads was strengthened after the dismissal of Interior Minister Ovezdurdy Khodzhanyyazov at a meeting of the Security Council on April 6 "for traffic violations by drivers in Ashgabat"
At the same time, Prosecutor General Batyr Atdaev cited more than 30 examples of bringing speed violators to justice, two thirds of whom turned out to be acquaintances of the president. After that, HT noted, the Police Road Supervision Service tightened control over compliance with traffic rules in Ashgabat, and residents and drivers of the capital received SMS with a request to comply with traffic rules.
At a meeting of the Security Council on May 5, President Serdar Berdymukhammedov ordered the new Minister of Internal Affairs, Muhammet Khydyrov , to “eliminate the shortcomings that are allowed while observing the traffic rules” in a short time .
Since the beginning of April, the authorities have unofficially tightened control over the external and internal appearance of women. According to independent media, women are forbidden to use Botox and dye their eyebrows. State publications report that agitation and propaganda events are held among girls and women in the regions and the capital, dedicated to the national Turkmen traditions, the sanctity of the family, the norms of etiquette and education.
Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan