I had never heard of it before you asked, but I did look it up.
In Russia, you have to be licensed to own a shotgun for 5 years before applying for a license to own a rifle. Many people would like to buy rifles without that 5-year waiting period.
This round and the rifle it was released with are an attempt to circumvent that law. You can't just put a smoothbore barrel on a Kalashnikov in 7.62x39 and call it a shotgun, but you CAN rebarrel a Kalashnikov with a smoothbore for a new wildcat shotgun cartridge that also just happens to handle the also-new 9.55x39 tapered case rifle cartridge made from 7.62x39 rifle cases, then call THAT frankenstein a shotgun. And voila, you have a 9.55mm rifle with a smoothbore barrel accurate to 100-ish yards, though "accurate" may mean minute of man.
That's not a lot of case/powder for 170-230 grain "rifle" bullet. I think its uses would be limited. It might be a hell-raiser during a home invasion, but I don't what I'd use it for otherwise.
