The head of public relations in the Tehran Metro Company says the number of peddlers selling goods in metro trains is growing rapidly, indicating “huge profits down in the underground.”
Ehsan Moghadam said there is a plan to ban entry of vendors to metro stations and to prevent them from loitering around, but noted there “is no approved law to confront them.” This is while numerous complaints from metro commuters have been received urging the authorities to address the issue, ISNA quoted him as saying.
“The presence of peddlers not only bothers the passengers but also meddles with the schedule of trains as their activity creates a rush at times and they even prevent train doors from closing,” he said.
Moghadam pointed to the 78 metro stations where the peddlers are not allowed to enter and said “we do not employ forceful measures and only stop them from entering the station. However, not all of them can be recognized by station guards as they hide their wares one way or other.”
He emphasized the need for public awareness on the low quality of the goods sold at the metro stations and the harm they may cause to people’s health as well as domestic production in the country.
Cheap Prices
Metro peddlers have some advocates among the people due to the cheap prices of the items they sell, but a larger group of metro-travelers has called for confronting them.
On why the settlement plan of street vendors did not work, Moghadam said the former management of the metro company had decided to allocate some stalls and booths, but the vendors refused to accept them “as their income is far more when moving in and out of trains or changing routes.”
The income for mobile vendors appears to be notable to the extent that a considerable number of men and children have also added to the large family of peddlers, mostly women, who find in the metro their best market.
