Presidential decree explains how tourist cashback will work for citizens of Uzbekistan

The document approved the proposal of the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage, the State Tax Committee, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction to introduce from September 1, 2022 for citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan the procedure for returning part of the costs (cashback) for domestic travel carried out in the regions of the republic within the framework of the “O‘zbekiston bo‘ylab sayohat qil!” program.

According to the resolution, the reimbursement of travel expenses is carried out through an e-platform, including through its mobile application, which provides for planning domestic travel and refunds, as well as providing discounts and independently forming ready-made tourist packages within the framework of the “O‘zbekiston bo‘ylab sayohat qil!” program.

Reimbursement of travel expenses is carried out if the following are performed simultaneously during the trip:

•  use of air, rail and (or) road transport;
•  using the services of accommodation facilities;
•  visits to cultural organizations.

Travel expenses are refunded to each tourist in the following amounts:

•  15% of the round-trip ticket amount when traveling by air, but not more than 150,000 soums;
•  15% of the round-trip ticket amount when traveling by rail or bus, but not more than 80,000 soums;
•  15% of the amount of expenses for spending the night in accommodation facilities, but not more than 80,000 soums;
•  50% of the amount of each visit to theaters, museums, circuses and art galleries, but not more than 20,000 soums.

It is noted that the refund of expenses is carried out only through the platform to the bank card of local tourists at the end of the domestic trip.

“By integrating the platform with a special mobile application of the State Tax Committee (SoliqUz), the authenticity of expenses is verified using a mobile application, QR codes of receipts are scanned and the permanent place of residence of local tourists is indicated with travel registration,” the document says.

It should be recalled that on April 26, a videoconference meeting was held under the chairmanship of the President on measures to expand the coverage of tourism services and develop tourism infrastructure. During the meeting, it became known that from September 1, for citizens traveling around the country, a system of refunding 15% of the cost of air, rail and bus tickets, 20% of the cost of hotel accommodation, 50% of the cost of tickets to museums and other cultural objects will be introduced.