Gayane Sargsyan

Individual taxi operators in Vanadzor, Armenia’s third largest city, are up in arms.

They want to do away with a 2015 law forcing them to pay an annual fee of 15,000 AMD ($30) for the right to ply their trade.

The drivers have petitioned Vanadzor Mayor Samvel Darbinyan to review the law in question.

Backing up their demand, the drivers note that such a fee doesn’t exist for cabbies in Yerevan, the capital and that the 15,000 AMD fee doesn’t correspond to the depressed socio-economic conditions in Vanadzor.

The drivers also argue that roads in Vanadzor are in such a bad state that they pay thousands in repairs and that the fares they collect from passengers leaves them at a loss at the end of the day. They also claim that state funds are poorly managed and that their taxes are being squandered on ineffective road maintenance.

The cabbies note they are already paying a host of other fees and taxes and that have nothing left with which to care for their families.

They delivered their petition, addressed to the mayor and municipal council, eight days ago, requesting that copies be handed out to municipal council members.

When the cabbies shown up at today’s municipal council meeting, to voice their demands in person, they found out that none of the council members had been handed copies of their petition and that they didn’t even know about the issue.

When asked why the petition hadn’t been delivered, municipal staff secretary Gagik Simonyan, curtly replied that all council members would soon get a copy of the petition.

Simonyan told the cabbies that they should have presented their petition in the fall of last year, before the fees were drafted by the council. He advised the taxi drivers to come back this fall and present their proposals during discussions regarding the fees to be set for 2017.

Municipal Council member Armen Matinyan confirmed that the 15,000 fee imposed on independent cabbies in Vanadzor was the highest in the country.

“It’s 10,000 in Yerevan and 12,500 in Gyumri. I don’t know if the fees are being collected but they are lower than here. I’ve always favored lowering the fee, but given our budgetary problems it hasn’t been dropped,” Matinyan told Hetq.

Vanadzor cabbies voice their demands at the municipal council meeting

Cabbie Aharon Saghatelyan said that Vanadzor had become a town of ruins.

“There’s no oversight. They dump the asphalt in the water. Those funds are the result of our hard work,” Saghatelyan said.

The taxi drivers want better municipal services before paying any fees.

Mayor Darbinyan told the cabbies that the issue would be reviewed when the town’s 2017 budget was up for discussion.

Not receiving any satisfaction at the council session, the irate cabbies left and continued their protest outside the municipal office.

“It’s a small town. There aren’t enough customers. There are days when we don’t even make 1,000 drams. I’ve spent 50,000 drams for a state license, so why do I have to pay a municipal fee as well?” asked cabbie Norayr Gevorgyan.

“They argue there is no solution, but there always is one. Let them present our demands to the parliament,” said Seyran Tovmasyan, another protesting cabbie.

The drivers said they would petition the transport ministry if the municipal fee wasn’t revoked.