Fifty-four travel agency companies in Iran have had their operation licenses revoked as part of more stringent supervision exerted over firms that committed violations amid the currency turmoil in the first half of the current fiscal year (ended Sept. 22).
The statement was made by Ali Asghar Barikani, the director of Supervision Department of Iran Civil Aviation Organization.
He noted that an additional 137 travel agencies have had their licenses suspended over the same period while 310 illegal travel websites were shuttered, the official website of CAO reported.
The official referred to refraining from renewing guarantees, not meeting standards after licenses were suspended and not adhering to warnings and guidelines of the organization as the reasons behind the revocation of licenses.
But another major reason behind license terminations has been violations by travel agencies in terms of jacking up prices. Iran has been battling a currency crisis in recent months due to the reimposition of US sanctions, whereby some local players took advantage of the situation and charge their customers more.
Barikani noted that thousands of complaints were registered during the first half of the current year, be it online, by phone or in person.
In late September, Shahram Alimohammadi, the head of tourism division of Tehran's office at Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, announced that 26 travel agencies operating in Iran's capital Tehran have had their licenses revoked due to unlawful operations.
In late August, Alimohammadi announced that 18 travel and tourism agencies were shuttered in Tehran.
This is while tourism authorities are not keen on revoking the licenses of travel agencies or other related entities because retaining jobs is a top priority under the current difficult circumstances for the government of President Hassan Rouhani.
