Tatarstan Emerges as a Leader in Deploying the MFTs Chat Bot in the MAX Messenger
The drive toward digital government is allowing residents to access public services faster and more conveniently through a familiar messaging platform. In the near future, this approach could scale nationwide.
Convenience and Speed
The Republic of Tatarstan has become one of the first 20 Russian regions to deploy a chat bot for its MFTs – Mnogofunktsionalnye Tsentry, or Multifunctional Public Service Centers – within the national messenger MAX. Through the bot, residents can book or cancel appointments at MFTs, check office hours and view branch locations. The service is accessible directly from a smartphone without visiting the Gosuslugi portal. The bot streamlines communication with public agencies while reducing workload pressure on front-office staff.
Although the initiative is regional in scope, federal authorities intend to expand it across the country. As a result, the new chat bot could become a model for rolling out domestically developed digital solutions. Residents gain a faster and more intuitive way to interact with MFTs through a platform they already use daily, while Tatarstan reinforces its position as one of Russia’s leading regions in digital government.
Integration With Gosuslugi
Tatarstan’s experience may inform similar deployments in other regions and in CIS jurisdictions where national digital platforms are expanding, including Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The chat bot’s functionality is expected to grow. Planned enhancements include tracking document readiness, integration with digital ID credentials, electronic signatures and other MAX services.
The initiative is part of a broader policy to integrate the MAX messenger with public services and the Gosuslugi portal. Citizens already use MAX to schedule doctor appointments, pay traffic fines and access other government services directly within the messenger. The next phase is likely to extend integration to additional agencies, introduce automated responses and AI assistants, and enable digital identification for Gosuslugi through MAX.
Active Expansion
The service launched in mid-October 2025, allowing residents to book appointments at MFTs through the MAX chat bot. Since then, the service has expanded. The bot now also provides application status updates, office hours and branch addresses.
At the same time, Tatarstan is migrating residential building chats and other municipal communications into MAX. More than 61 percent of building-level chat groups are already active in the messenger. Regional authorities are also transitioning MFTs employee workstations to a virtual infrastructure based on AS Astra Linux, part of a broader modernization effort across the public sector.
AI and Mini-Apps
The pilot integration of the MFTs chat bot into MAX represents a clear example of digital transformation in Russian public services. The expansion of domestic digital platforms has become a defining trend in public administration, with MAX serving as a central hub for multiple services.
In the near future, MFTs chat bots are likely to appear in all Russian regions. Services may become available not only through the mobile messenger but also through mini-applications and digital identifiers. This architecture creates conditions for introducing AI-powered tools into public services, including intelligent virtual assistants. While initial user adaptation challenges and data security concerns are possible, Russia’s digital sector has the technical capacity and institutional support to address these issues.
