Tehran Municipality has said a recently announced scheme to remove dilapidated vehicles off the roads of the capital is taking shape.
As part of the new plan a new fund has been established to give the owners of 7,000 owners of non roadworthy taxis loans to replace with new ones, Donyaye Khodro and IVMA reports.
As part of the new scheme, the Transportation and Fuel Organization of Tehran, which is under the auspices of the TM, is obliged to replace 10,000 old taxis by the end of the current Iranian year (ends March 20, 2016). So far, only 3,100 taxis were granted the loans to replace their old vehicles, the rest are still waiting to receive official confirmation into the scheme.
Many more taxi drivers are still waiting to hear from the organization in charge of the scheme, on whether they can apply for the scheme as certain requirements must be met.
Drivers who are offered the 15% loan will be required to repay this over the course of the agreed period, noted Abolfazl Qana’ati, member of the Tehran City Council.
Rumors circulating recently suggested that the current interest rate would increase as the loans may switch from the current provider, Saderat Bank to City Bank, which comes under the purview of the TM.
Prior to this latest announcement, a member of Tehran Taxi Company said all dilapidated Paykan taxis must be replaced by January 2016, after which they will be scrapped or phased out without being offered the loan.
Mohammad Ebrahimi said hybrid taxis will also play a bigger role in the taxi fleet.
The official also noted license plates of each scrapped taxi will be placed on one new hybrid car.
The taxi fleet has been upgraded to Iran Khodro Samand’s dual-fuel, part petrol, part CNG engines. These also make a large part of the hybrid fleet of taxis as CNG cars emit significantly less amounts of pollutants into the environment.
The taxis are infamous on the roads of Tehran, with many being used as “shuttle taxis” meaning they have defined routes with set prices. Taxi driving in Tehran is a lucrative business with people having to wait years for the official taxi license plate.
