A total of 2,500 dilapidated urban taxis have been renovated and delivered to applicants since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21), the head of Iran Taxi Union said.
According to Morteza Zameni, 3,800 applications have been received in the current Iranian year, 1,300 of which are being processed, IRNA reported.
The endeavor is in line with the government's taxi renovation program, which was proposed four years ago in collaboration with ITU, local banks and automakers.
Zameni said 78,655 old taxis have been restored since 2016, 11,120 of which have been scrapped and replaced with new vehicles.
“According to the authorities, vehicles over 10 years old qualify for the renovation scheme. Based on this criteria, currently 192,000 vehicles in the country are eligible for the program and the number will reach 242,000 by the current yearend [March 2021].”
The ITU chief urged the government to allocate loans to taxi owners keen on renovating their vehicles, as taxi drivers cannot afford to buy new vehicles at the current market price.
The sedan called Samand made by Iran Khodro – one of the popular cars in the local taxi fleet – now costs 1.16 billion rials ($4,530), which only cost 370 million rials ($1,440) a couple of years ago.
Another sedan favored by taxi drivers is Peugeot 405. Currently, the CNG-hybrid 405 costs up to 1.24 billion rials ($4,840), while it could be bought for 330 million ($1,280) in 2018.
The cheapest vehicle in Iran today is SAIPA’s Tiba at 1 billion rials ($3,900), up from 220 million rials ($860) some three years ago.
Earlier in May, Tehran Municipality announced its plan to renovate 15,000 decrepit taxis in the current year in coordination with the Plan and Budget Organization.
According to Manaf Hashemi, Tehran Municipality’s former deputy for traffic and transportation affairs, PBO allocated 200 billion rials ($780,000) to the plan.
Based on the plan, drivers of old taxis are given low-interest loans totaling 900 million rials ($3,500), he added.
Dilapidated Fleet
The taxi fleet has long been in dire need of renovation. There are 150,000 old and dilapidated taxis worsening air pollution in major cities from a total of 360,000 vehicles in the taxi fleet.
If effective measures are not taken, Zameni said, the number of dilapidated cabs will annually jump to 245,000.
To address the problem of deteriorating air pollution in most metropolises, the government introduced the latest renovation scheme.
To be eligible, cabbies were required to register their clunkers on the website Nosazi.org. After enrollment, each driver had to dispatch the old car to the junkyard.
Applicants were loaned 200 million rials ($870) at an interest rate of 16%. The money was to be repaid in 48 monthly installments.
After the loan amount was reduced from the total price of the new vehicle, the applicant paid the balance upfront. With car prices rising as never before, at present most drivers cannot afford to participate in the scheme. There have been reports that the loan amount is to be increased. How this will help remains to be seen.
Those who devised the 2016 taxi renovation scheme are often censured by taxi drivers. Besides complaining about annoying delays in delivery, many at that time said they could not afford the car prices, despite the loan.
Previous Efforts
Designing plans for scrappage and replacement of old taxis also involves other state institutions.
Following the Oil Ministry’s request last year in March, a nationwide scheme was set up to phase out 130,000 dilapidated taxis and replace them with LPG- and CNG-hybrid vehicles.
The plan aimed to curb the worrying air pollution in Iranian metropolises while reducing gasoline consumption.
Reportedly, the scheme comes with financial assistance for taxi drivers and special subsidies on fuel price.
Last summer, Iran's major carmaker Iran Khodro Company (IKCO) and Iran Taxi Union signed a deal to upgrade the capital's aging public transportation fleet, in a push to combat air pollution in the city.
Accordingly, IKCO agreed to renovate 10,000 cabs operating in taxi fleets over a year-long period.
IKCO's Sales Manager Alireza Oskouei said at the time that the number of new vehicles earmarked for renovating the fleet can increase, depending on demand and drivers' inclination to participate in the renovation scheme.
Reportedly, the scheme’s executors agreed with local banks to offer low-interest loans to cabbies, in order to speedily implement the plan.
According to Zameni, loans worth 400 million rials ($1,740) are offered to drivers of old taxis to motivate them to let go of their dilapidated cars.
However, experts believe such renovation plans cannot succeed unless domestic car prices decline because most taxi drivers cannot afford them.
This plan has met with poor response, as domestic automakers are chronically in debt and pressure the government to allow them to raise the already high prices of their costly and substandard cars.
