Certain aspects of the protection of the rights of railway passengers
Authors: Moskalenko S. 
Published: March 2023

The article reveals the peculiarities of certain aspects of the protection of the rights of railway passengers.

Protection of the rights of consumers - passengers of railway transport is currently an important direction of state policy. At the same time, the problem of protecting the rights of railway passengers remains insufficiently researched today.

In the conditions of instability caused by the pandemic, the introduction of martial law, and the economic situation in the country, the problems of consumer rights protection have gained special importance. It is worth noting that attention to the protection of consumer rights is also connected with the rapid development of digital technologies, which significantly change traditional approaches to understanding consumer relations. Today, the sale of goods and services using the Internet (e-commerce) is gaining more and more popularity, which is primarily due to the low price of goods and services, as well as the convenience of obtaining them.

At the national level of consumer rights protection, in general, the following main factors that affect the level of consumer rights protection can be identified: imperfect legislation; insufficient funding, material, technical and personnel base; lack of consumer education; uninformed consumers about their rights; inactivity of central and local authorities and local self-government bodies regarding the implementation of consumer rights and interests; corruption in authorities; distrust of citizens.

The purpose of the study is to analyze the legal status of consumers - passengers of railway transport and to provide proposals for eliminating gaps in national legislation in the specified area.

Various aspects of the institute for the protection of consumer rights were reflected in the works of national and foreign scientists. It is worth noting that the protection of consumer rights in the digital age is the least developed area of legislation at the national level. Effective protection of consumer rights is crucial for the formation of a fair, transparent and competitive social and economic system of any state in particular and the world system in general. In recent years, the issue of separation in the legal structure of consumer law has been actively discussed. It requires a detailed analysis of the legal status of the passenger of railway transport and the elimination of gaps in the national legislation in the specified area. In addition, the consumer's right to receive a service is insufficiently implemented.

Today, it is expedient to create an electronic database of passengers and railway transport. Taking into account the fact that the passenger's data is already entered when buying a ticket, there is no need to accumulate extra information. This will allow to protect the rights of passengers, on the one hand, and on the other hand, it will lead to a reduction of corruption risks in the transport industry. This will allow, in particular, to restore tickets in case of their loss; to confirm the fact of passenger travel, ticket purchase, etc.