Baku, Azerbaijan, May 26
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: The Iranian administration increased gas bills for household, commercial, and administrative subscribers by 15 percent, Hamid Reza Araqi, the managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company, stated.
However, gas prices have not been changed for power plants, refineries, industries, and agricultural units, Iran 's Shana news agency quoted Araqi as saying on May 26.
The new price will be 920 rials (3 cents), up 15 percent from 800 rials (2 cents), and will be applied as of Wednesday, May 27, he noted.
The decision has been taken in line with implementing the Subsidy Reform Plan.
Previously, the head of Iran Energy Efficiency Organization Hossein Sajjadi, said gas and electricity bills in Iran are lower than the average global prices by 12.5 times and 7 times, respectively.
Meanwhile, the administration decided on May 24 to scrap an eight-year-old program of allocating 60 liters of gasoline at a subsidized price for each car per month, officially launching a single-rate fuel price system.
Iran began cutting energy and food subsidies in 2010 as part of what was described as a "surgery" to help the national economy as it faced international sanctions for its nuclear program. The second phase, which targeted further gasoline subsidy cuts, started in 2014.
