Tashkent mayor Shavkat Umurzakov signed an order imposing a fee for commercial video recording (not photography) at Tashkent markets and shopping malls Tuesday.

A fee of 5 million soums will now be charged per hour for filming videos, clips, advertising, and other commercial materials. The new rule does not apply to foreign tourists or media outlets, the order noted.

Following reports on social media that all filming at markets shall now be charged, the Tashkent mayor's office today issued a clarification.

"The new rules do NOT apply to regular visitors. Filming your purchases, taking photos with your family, shooting for a personal blog or story is free. Neither shall restrictions apply to tourists, schoolchildren, students, or journalists from official media outlets. The rules apply exclusively to commercial filming, meaning filming for the purpose of earning money," the statement states.

The fee applies only to professionals who earn income from their content. These include major bloggers and influencers who regularly earn money from advertising, integrations, and views; commercial studios and production crews filming music videos, commercials, documentaries, TV series, or films; and companies using the market space to promote their goods and services, the city administration noted.

"This is normal international practice. In all major cities around the world—from Istanbul to Paris—commercial filming is charged because it takes up space, interferes with traffic, creates inconvenience for vendors and customers, and requires additional monitoring, support, and security," the city administration stated.

Commercial filming has increased significantly in recent years. Bloggers and commercial channels use markets as locations to make money without compensating for the workload. Complaints from vendors about filming interfering with their work have become more frequent. Therefore, it became necessary to introduce a unified and clear procedure, the statement concluded.