Fly away and check it out: for tour operators, it is proposed to introduce revolving fines for violations

In Russia, they want to toughen the penalties for tour operators. It is planned to introduce revolving fines for them and prohibit them from engaging in tourism activities if they do not enter vouchers into a Single Information System. Public figures made this request to the head of the Cabinet of Ministers Mikhail Mishustin. They had such a duty in 2022, but it is not being respected. This creates an opaque market and increases the risks of selling fake vouchers. The situation with the sale of fictitious tours to Russians will be the topic of a meeting of the Public Council at Rospotrebnadzor.

Why do tour operators not want to officially register travel packages

For tour operators, it is proposed to introduce fines in the Administrative Code for not entering information about vouchers sold to Russians into the Unified Electronic Information System of electronic vouchers (it operated in a test mode from September 1, 2022 to March 1, 2023, and then the rules for transmitting information were introduced in stages).

If the operators commit a violation for the first time, then the amount of financial punishment should be equivalent to the cost of the ticket. For the second time, the fine is proposed to be made negotiable for the company — in the amount of 1-3% of revenue from the sale of tourist products in the previous year. If these measures are not effective, and the company commits such a violation three times, it is proposed to exclude it from the register of tour operators or travel agents (with a ban on carrying out this activity).

As Izvestia found out, Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Consumer Initiative (OPI) and head of the Public Council at Rospotrebnadzor, addressed such a proposal to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

In the document reviewed by Izvestia, the social activist reports that the ban on the sale of travel products without transmitting information to the Unified Information System of Electronic Vouchers (UIS EP) has been in effect in the field of outbound tourism since November 15, 2023, in the field of inbound and domestic tourism — since September 1, 2024. The purpose of its creation was to provide consumers and regulatory authorities (the Ministry of Economic Development, Rospotrebnadzor, etc.) with reliable information about tour operators, travel agents and travel routes. Today, this makes it possible for Russians to independently verify information about a travel package, including its legality.

However, as the social activist notes in his appeal, this is not always possible, since by the beginning of the ban on the sale of tours abroad without an electronic voucher, only 40% of tour operators had registered with the EIS EP.

— Administrative responsibility for violating the rules for transmitting information to the Unified Information System has not yet been established. Instead, if violations are detected three times within three months, mechanisms are provided for exclusion from the register of tour operators and from the Unified Federal Register of Travel Agents. Meanwhile, due to restrictions on unscheduled control (supervisory) measures, the likelihood of timely detection of repeated violations is reduced to zero," Oleg Pavlov explained to Izvestia.

In this regard, he asks the government to come up with a legislative initiative to supplement Article 14.51 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation "Violation of the legislation of the Russian Federation on tourism activities" with new sanctions for the sale of tourist products without entering information into the Unified Information System.

— The situation with the sale of fake vouchers to Russians will be the topic of a meeting of the Public Council at Rospotrebnadzor, which we want to hold in the near future. We plan to use it to show the scale of the situation with the lack of transparency of the tourism market, which is being exploited by fraudsters today," said the head of the OPI.

The concern of public figures is confirmed by the massive cases of deception of Russians with the sale of fictitious vouchers. So, residents of St. Petersburg gave 3 million rubles to the general director of the travel agency Protravel LLC for failed vacation trips to Thailand, Egypt, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Abkhazia and the Maldives. In March of this year, the case was brought to court.

In February, Perm sentenced fraudsters who sold fake vouchers to Abkhazia and Yalta. They created fake boarding house websites, and after receiving the payment, the pseudo-managers stopped contacting them. The total amount of damage amounted to more than 1.6 million rubles. Also in February, it became known that a travel agency in the Kursk region had defrauded 14 people of 3 million rubles. After consumers have selected a suitable tour, they have signed contracts and made full payment for the trip. However, later it turned out that there were no empty seats in the hotels.

In December 2024, a trial began in Murmansk against a businesswoman who sold fake vouchers outside the country. The defendant received money from the victims, but did not purchase plane tickets for them or book hotels. The damage exceeded 9 million rubles.

Izvestia sent a request to the government with a request to comment on the prospects for supporting the measures proposed by public figures.

Why does business critically evaluate e-vouchers

Business representatives reacted skeptically to the proposal to introduce revolving fines.

— Then it is necessary to forbid everyone to work and close. On average, the remuneration to a travel agent from a tour operator ranges from 3% to 5%. From this amount, the travel agent must pay income tax, rent, salary. At best, if you earn 5%, you are left with 1% or 1.5%. Let's also introduce fines," Sergei Golov, president of the Union of Travel Agencies and a member of the Coordinating Council for Tourism at the Civic Chamber, told Izvestia.

According to him, the electronic voucher should not be controlled by citizens, travel agents, or tour operators, it should be done by authorized bodies, which should strengthen this control without introducing any additional penalties.

Yuri Barzykin, Vice President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, believes that the electronic travel permit mechanism is already outdated. According to him, it is not fiscal and cannot serve as reporting, so it needs to be finalized. At the same time, in his opinion, along with increased control, it is necessary to increase support for the tourism industry, and this, unfortunately, has not yet been fully done.

It is important not only to strengthen the punishment for violating the law on electronic travel, but also to observe the principle of its inevitability, Dmitry Davydenko, general director of the Citizens' Union Center for Protection and Assistance to Citizens Abroad and Support for Compatriots, told Izvestia.

— It is difficult to calculate the volume of the gray tourist market, but it exists, and its size is quite large. We are talking not only about cases when a negligent tour operator cheats with vouchers and underestimates the number of tourists sent, but also about creating schemes for laundering and illegal withdrawal of money abroad," the expert explained.

He also noted that the operator, by not entering information into the electronic database, violates both private and public interests at once, the tourist does not receive guarantees provided to him by law, and the state does not receive taxes due to him. At the same time, white-collar competitors are in less attractive conditions and are forced to bear the full tax burden.

— Tour operators often position themselves as the largest players in the market and claim a large number of tourists on vacation, but in fact, when applying for financial guarantees, they show completely different figures and financial results. And consumers don't even suspect that additional risks are created for them in this way," said Roman Bobylev, Chairman of the Board of the All—Russian public organization for the protection of tourists' rights, the All-Russian Association of Tourists.

Fulfillment of obligations under an electronic travel permit increases the guarantees of consumers of tourist services and helps the state determine a reasonable tax base, he concluded.