Analytics, Latvia, Legislation, Pensioners, Transport

She said that the regulations issued by the Riga City Council provides that non-working pensioners with their place of residence registered in Riga are entitled to free rides on Riga public transport. The citizenship of the pensioners or any other criteria are not included in granting these discounts.

According to the data of the State Social Insurance Agency (VSAA), there are 86,351 pensioners registered in Riga. Among them, 4,916 receive their pensions from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. 23.5 percent of them also receive a pension from Latvia. According to data from VSAA and Rigas Satiksme, the number of recipients of Russian, Belorussian and Ukrainian pensions below the age of 63 who are using the discounts of Rigas Satiksme could be about 2,325 or 3.28 percent of all pensioners registered in Riga.

As reported, retired Latvian citizens and non-citizens living in Riga can use the public transport in Riga for free after they have turned 63 while citizens of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus where the retirement age is lower can enjoy free public transport already after the age of 55 years.

The opposition lawmakers have pointed out the problem at the Riga City Council and proposed that free rides should be offered to non-working people who live in Riga after they have reached the retirement age in line with the Latvian legislation as the present regulations discriminate Latvian pensioners.