Following approval of the scheme by parliament and then the Guardians Council in March, the measures will see prices for rationed gasoline rise by 25% from Rls.800/liter (9 US cents/liter) to Rls.1,000/liter (12c/liter), MEES report adds.

Private car owners will be allocated a ration of 90 liters per month at this price, with any additional gasoline requirement paid for at international prices plus the cost of distribution, which is expected to be IR 5,000/liter ($0.60/liter).

Taxis will be allocated 300 liters a month. MEES understands that under the system, rationed gasoline consumption is expected to be around 43 million liters/day (within Iran"s domestic refining capacity of 46 million liters/day), with up to 30 million liters/day supplied at the international price.

The initiative is expected to reduce the smuggling of Iranian gasoline abroad. However, officials involved with the scheme expect potential problems relating to the smart card technology which has been deployed at service stations. 

PIN/PRESSTV