More than 6.5 million fuel cards of dilapidated cars and motorcycles were revoked following the government's initiative to address problems and shortcomings related to the national fuel cards, Mehr News Agency reported.
In the first phase of the initiative, fuel cards belonging to vehicles without number plates were cancelled by the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company. In the second phase, the NIORDC in cooperation with Fuel and Transport Management Organization cancelled 6.5 million fuel cards belonging to old and dilapidated private vehicles, director of the Smart Fuel System at the NIORDC said.
Motorcycles, private cars and public vehicles produced more than 10, 25, and 15 years ago respectively are considered dilapidated, Seyed Mohsen Rouhani said, adding that cards belonging to old public cars have not been revoked yet, as "their service is still needed."
So far, the cancellations cover only gasoline-fueled cars and no directive has been issued for diesel-fueled vehicles.
On May 26, the government stopped selling subsidized gasoline to private vehicles at 7,000 rials (20 cents). Since then regular gasoline is offered at a single price of 10,000 rials (30 cents) for car owners nationwide without a quota, while unleaded gasoline costs 12,000 rials (35 cents) a liter. In 2013, there were 11.4 million private vehicles in Iran, the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers said in a report based on statistics from 141 countries. Vehicles per capita in Iran are estimated to be 164 per every 1,000 individuals, which is lower than the global average of 174.
There are currently 17 million vehicles, including public and private, Abbas Akhoundi, minister of roads and urban development, said in March.
