Duma may pass passenger insurance bill in October

The State Duma, Russia’s lower house of Russian parliament, may pass a bill on compulsory insurance of passengers by carriers in a second reading in October, the Transport Ministry’s finance and economy department said on Wednesday.

The draft was passed in the first of three required readings last November.

“Unfortunately, we have no time to discuss the bill during the current spring session. We are planning to do it in a second reading in October,” the Transport Ministry’s methodology and fiscal policy division head Yelena Potseluyeva said.

If the bill is adopted carriers would have to pay no less than 2 million rubles ($71,420) within 30 days in case of damage to health or life of passengers, Potseluyeva said.

Her statement comes just days after over 100 people died when the river cruiser Bulgaria sank on the Volga river on July 10. The vessel was apparently not licensed or insured to carry passengers.

 

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