Starting October 1, 2026, digital platforms—including taxi services, delivery services, freelance marketplaces, and service aggregators—will begin restricting self-employed workers’ collaboration with a single client. Experts from the Center for Evidence-Based Analysis at the Gaidar Institute, in comments for RBC, noted that the new rules do not yet take into account many of the specific features of platform-based employment and require further refinement.
According to Government Decree No. 760, if a self-employed worker works for a single client for more than 60 hours per month for six consecutive months, the platform will stop showing them new orders from that client. The new requirements will apply to 14 sectors, including construction, retail, IT, education, and advertising.
According to Ekaterina Papchenkova, director of the Center for Evidence-Based Expertise at the Gaidar Institute, this approach does not reflect how many self-employed workers actually operate.
“Such regulation fails to take into account that platform workers often work simultaneously on different projects for several clients, while maintaining civil-law relationships. For example, this is typical in construction and renovation. Furthermore, a person may regularly fulfill orders for two or three large clients—such as stores or warehouses near their home—while maintaining a flexible schedule and independence. However, in doing so, they may exceed the established hourly limit. “The restriction being introduced does not take into account the full diversity of platform-based employment,” noted Ekaterina Papchenkova.
Lora Nakoryakova, a partner at the Center for Evidence-Based Expertise at the Gaidar Institute, noted that the mechanism of the new restrictions still raises many questions among both businesses and government agencies.
“It is not yet entirely clear how the new criteria will work alongside other rules already in use by regulators, or how they will be enforced in practice. Furthermore, a one-size-fits-all approach may not account for the specific nature of seasonal or project-based work, where the format of collaboration differs from standard employment relationships. It will only be possible to assess the effectiveness of the new rules once detailed explanations regarding their application are provided,” noted Lora Nakoryakova.