With tire prices skyrocketing, the Taxi Union is providing cabbies with tires at rates 40% lower than the market prices. The tires are offered to the cabbies at prices around 3 million rials ($24) depending on their brand.
As per an agreement between Iran’s Taxi Union and local tire manufactures, the taxi organization purchased 30,000 tires and is selling them to taxi drivers at factory prices.
According to the manager of the union, Alireza Qanadan, “So far, about 12,000 tires have been delivered and we will proceed with further deliveries,” ISNA reported. Each taxi driver can buy four tires. There are more than 80,000 taxis in Tehran.
For receiving tires at subsidized rates drivers need to submit a request on the union’s website, taxi.tehran.ir, mentioning their ID number and plate number, in addition to setting the date for receiving the tires.
The program is only for Tehran taxis for now.
With prices of almost all goods having multiplied several times over the past eight months, avaricious dealers also jacked up tire prices.
Locally-made tires are priced at 5 million rials ($40) a pair in the market while factory prices are less than 3 million rials ($24).
Local tire companies are also at risk as they are grappling with a shortage of raw material that have forced some to shut down and others to cut output.
After US President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the rial tanked as never before. To preserve the value of the national currency, the government limited imports by announcing a list of essential goods eligible for subsidized foreign currency.
Raw materials and intermediate goods used by the tire industry are considered by the government as a “Second Priority” and as such not eligible for subsidized foreign currency.
According to the head of the Tire Industry Association of Iran, Mohammad Reza Taqiganji, most tire factories do not have enough raw material to continue production in the not too distant future and very likely will be forced to shut down if things do not turn around.
