On March 28, Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev proposed introducing charges for the use of VPN services at a meeting with representatives of the “big four” operators. Forbes reported this, citing sources. The information was also confirmed by RBC sources.
According to the publication, Shadayev proposed charging for the use of more than 15 GB of international traffic per month on mobile networks. One Forbes source said the new measures could take effect before May 1.
In addition, the head of the Ministry of Digital Development urged digital platforms VK, Ozon, Avito, Wildberries, Yandex, and others not to allow onto their sites users who access them through VPNs. According to a Forbes source, Shadayev also did not rule out the possibility of introducing administrative liability for the use of tools to bypass blocks. At the same time, he “expressed hope that this could be avoided.”
The publication’s sources believe the Ministry of Digital Development’s initiative may be linked to a confidential directive from Vladimir Putin.
Earlier, RBC reported that Shadayev had instructed mobile operators to ban Russians from topping up their Apple ID balance from their mobile phone account. As one of the reasons, operators were told this was necessary to help prevent payments for VPN services.