Vehicles lacking technical inspection tests will be banned in Tehran from Oct. 23.
Tehran Municipality and the Traffic Police have set up a joint taskforce that will monitor and fine cars, buses and commercial vehicles that have not passed the mandatory technical inspection.
Using special cars equipped with smart surveillance cameras, the car found in violation will be identified and fined 500,000 rials ($3.6) per day, Asre Khodro news website reported.
According to Mohsen Pour Seyed Aqaei, managing director of the TM’s Transportation and Traffic Organization, the new measure is a part of the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) scheme due to become a tad stricter from next week.
"LEZ compels owners of highly polluting cars to choose an alternative mode of transport or decide to renovate their vehicles," Aqaei said.
Ratified in August 2015 by the High Council for Coordination of Urban Traffic, the LEZ scheme is a foray against polluting vehicles plying Tehran’s permanently clogged roads. The plan took effect in October 2016 only controlling the vehicles' technical inspections in the restricted areas.
The restricted zone in Tehran is an 80-square-kilometer area in central parts in which only public transport vehicles and cars with special permits are allowed to enter during working hours.
Tehran has long been notorious for its poor air quality, which is largely rooted in dilapidated vehicles. Air pollution and toxic air increase the risk of health problems including premature death.
Data from the Ministry of Health indicate that during the fiscal that ended in March 2017, close to 12,798 pollution-related deaths were recorded in Iran with one-third of the fatalities in capital. Tehran Province has a population of more than 13.26 million and 4 million cars.
