Abstract:
The article examines contemporary approaches to the legal regulation
of taxi aggregators – digital ride-hailing platforms that mediate between passengers and
drivers – in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the European Union, the United States, and the
Russian Federation. The study covers the latest legislative changes and judicial practice
from 2023 to 2025, including key court cases such as City of New York v. Uber Technologies Inc., C‐434/15 Asociación Profesional Elite Taxi v. Uber Spain, and the Kazakhstani
case of Ospan A.A. v. Glovo Kazakhstan LLP. Through a comparative legal analysis, the
authors discuss the employment status of drivers (self-employed vs. employee), issues of
algorithmic management and the provision of social and labor guarantees, as well as new
approaches to taxation of digital platforms (for example, the “VAT in the Digital Age” (ViDA)
package in the EU). Special attention is paid to the evolving regulatory frameworks for the
platform economy in Kazakhstan (digital reforms of 2023–2025) and in Russia (Federal
Law No. 580 and subsequent amendments in 2023–2025). The results show that despite
the global nature of ride-hailing businesses, legal solutions vary significantly. The EU seeks
to ensure labor rights for platform workers through a presumption of employment relationships and regulation of algorithms; the US relies on local regulations (such as city-level licensing and wage rules) and piecemeal judicial mechanisms; meanwhile, Kazakhstan and
Russia are only beginning to form their own models, currently focused more on registration
and control than on social protection. In conclusion, the authors propose recommendations
to improve the legal regulation of taxi aggregators, aiming to balance the interests of platforms, drivers, and society.
