Translated material
E-ticket strict reporting
The Ministry of Transport claims that we cannot do it differently (due to the peculiarities of domestic accounting). But even in this form, according to officials of the Ministry of Transport, registration of the order means “a revolution in the implementation of e-ticket in Russia.” The opinions of airline representatives interviewed yesterday on this matter by Vremya Novostey are not so clear-cut.
The conflict around e-ticket in Russia is determined by the contradiction between Russia’s international obligations and the requirements of domestic legislation. Several years ago, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) set December 31, 2007 as the deadline for the implementation of e-ticket by all airlines in the world. Russia, as a member of the ICAO, cannot ignore its recommendations. In practical terms, our lack of e-ticket creates a lot of obstacles for our carriers in cooperation with foreign partners.
On the other hand, the current financial legislation in Russia does not allow the use of e-ticket as an accounting document (for example, to confirm business trip expenses). This situation can only be changed by amending the relevant laws (including the Tax Code) through the State Duma. Russia may not have time to do this by the deadline set by the ICAO.
An attempt to find a way out of this contradiction was in November last year the order of the minister “On establishing the form of an electronic passenger ticket and baggage receipt in civil aviation,” which yesterday, after registration by the Ministry of Justice, entered into legal force. The order stipulates that “an electronic ticket must be issued on a passenger ticket and baggage receipt approved as a strict reporting form, or in addition to a receipt not issued on a strict reporting form, a document must be issued confirming the fact of payment for transportation, issued on an approved form, or through cash register receipt."
As the press service of the Ministry of Transport explained to Vremya Novostey yesterday, the advantage of the new order is that ordinary tourists who do not need “confirmation of payment” can now issue tickets via the Internet, as is common throughout the world. For business travelers, however, a visit to the ticket office is still inevitable at one or another stage of the travel process.
In airlines, the attitude towards innovation is determined by what proportion of their customers are business travelers who are deprived of the opportunity to fully use e-ticket. Aeroflot Public Relations Director Lev Koshlyakov yesterday called the ministerial order a “great relief,” although he admitted that the introduced procedure “to a large extent reflects our local characteristics.” Mr. Koshlyakov approximately estimates the share of business travelers from the total number of Aeroflot clients at 10%.
Another typical point of view was expressed by a representative of a large Russian airline, who wished to remain anonymous. In his opinion, the share of business travelers is much higher (up to 90%). Under these conditions, our interlocutor does not see any practical benefit from introducing e-ticket in the way that happened in Russia.