Kyiv taxi driver fined for refusing to serve passengers in Ukrainian - language ombudsman
Kyiv • UNN
A taxi driver was fined in Kyiv for refusing to serve passengers in Ukrainian, the Language Ombudsman reports. The fine amounted to 3,400 hryvnias.
Taras Kremin, the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language, has fined a taxi driver who refused to serve passengers in the state language. Kremin told about this incident, which occurred in Kyiv back in October, on one of the Ukrainian TV channels, UNN reports.
He has to pay UAH 3,400 to the city budget. The fine has not yet been paid, but I want to confirm to the citizens of Ukraine that we are conducting claim work on each of these facts, and if the facts are confirmed, we use the entire arsenal of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses.
Details
The office of the Ukrainian language ombudsman noted that in 2023, the Commissioner received 30% more appeals from citizens (3692) about violations of the Law of Ukraine "On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language" than in 2022 (2846).
Recall
The language scandal broke out on October 26, 2023. At that time, a video went viral showing the driver of a Kyiv taxi kicking passengers out of the car after they demanded that he speak Ukrainian.
Then the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language, Taras Kremin, responded to the incident by stating that a taxi driver who does not comply with the requirement to provide services in the state language will be held accountable.
In response, the driver called them "sick people.
Kremin, in turn, noted that the taxi driver had violated Article 30 of the Law of Ukraine "On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language," according to which the default language of customer service is the state language.
Optional
A detailed algorithm of actions on what to do in case of violation of the right to receive information or services in the state language is published on the Commissioner's website .
