Tehran Taxi Organization is providing tires to taxi drivers at subsidized rates, TTO’s head of public relations said.
“Tires are offered to cabbies at the factory price of 3 million rials [$19.5 per pair] depending on their brand, which are about 57% lower than the current market prices,” Morad-Ali Aminvand also told YJC.
The offer is part of an agreement reached by TTO and local tire manufactures in November 2018.
“Since then, over 60,000 tires have been offered to cabbies at subsidized rates,” he added.
Tehran’s taxi fleet has over 80,000 vehicles. Each taxi driver can buy four tires at subsidized rates.
"They only need to submit a request on the website Taxiclub.tehran.ir, enter their ID and license plate numbers, in addition to setting the date for receiving the tires," Aminvand said.
Just as prices of almost all goods witnessed a manifold increase in the past eight months, avaricious dealers have also jacked up tire prices.
Locally-made tires are priced at 7 million rials ($45) a pair in the market while the factory price is under 3 million rials ($19.5).
Iranian tire companies are also at risk, as they are grappling with a raw material shortage that has forced some to shut down and others to cut output.
After US President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal last summer, the rial tanked as never before. To preserve the value of 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-tier priority”, because of which it is not eligible to receive subsidized foreign currency. This has increased the woes of hard-pressed tire makers.
