“The Impact of Public Transportation Price Increases is Visible to the People”
Jonathan Bit Kleia, a member of the Urban and Rural Management Faction in parliament, on Monday, the ninth of Ordibehesht, described the 20 percent increase in transportation fares as “very illogical” and said that “the impact of it is visible to the people”.
The price of intra-city bus tickets, taxis, and metro in Tehran increased by 20 percent starting today, Monday. This price increase was implemented based on the City Council’s resolution and in accordance with inflation rates. This City Council resolution had faced opposition.
According to the report by the National House News Agency, affiliated with parliament, Jonathan Bit Kleia said: “The Tehran Municipality and City Council, instead of improving the standards of urban living, are seeking to increase the cost of living for the capital’s citizens and compensate for the shortage of municipal resources from the people’s pockets”.
According to the National House News Agency report, affiliated with parliament, he, announcing that “the impact of the 20 percent increase in public transportation fares is visible to the people,” said that this measure is by no means in the people’s interest and called on the municipality to reconsider it.
This member of the Urban and Rural Management Faction in parliament, emphasizing that the municipality should not finance all urban expenses from the people’s pockets, added: “Given that there has been no increase in fuel prices, there should have been no increase in public transportation fares either.”
Jonathan Bit Kleia emphasized the necessity of determining transportation fares on a professional basis and added: “When the municipality puts its hand in the people’s pockets whenever it faces a budget shortage, it is tantamount to violating citizens’ rights”.
This comes as, according to this parliament representative, “no changes have been made to the status and number of public transportation in the capital, and we still face overcrowding in the metro and the operation of worn-out taxis and buses”.
He, referring to the increase of hundreds of thousands of tomans in the salaries of employees and workers, said that they should spend several times this amount to purchase necessities, especially meat and transportation fares.
In recent months, consumer prices in Iran have increased significantly. In this regard, the Statistical Center of Iran has estimated the inflation rate of services in the 12 months ending in Farvardin between 21 to 29 percent.
Source: Radio Qardaa
