The National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company has temporarily put on hold its new controversial method for airlines to settle the refueling bills. As of Monday, airlines in six airports across the country were obliged to pay for their fuel by wiring the cost of each refill to the bank accounts of the NIOPDC using ATM or POS machines. The plan was supposed to be implemented at all airports across the country by mid-September. “The implementation of this plan has been halted until further notice pending further studies,” secretary of the Association of Iranian Airlines, Maqsoud As’adi Samani was quoted by Mehr News Agency as saying on Tuesday. He added that the airlines will continue using the old payment method. So far, Iranian airlines have been paying for jet fuel on credit, settling their debts with NIOPDC every 10-15 days. NIOPDC’s move to change the payment system unleashed strong opposition among airlines as well as officials of the Iran Civil Aviation Organization. In November 2015 NIOPDC put the amount of airlines’ overdue debts at 10 trillion rials ($282 million), but the AIA claims as of March 20 all airlines, except one, had settled their burgeoning debts.
