INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
TEHRAN - President Ebrahim Raisi has ordered a 70 percent discount rate for those gas subscribers whose consumption has actually gone beyond
a level set by the parliament.The order is in contrast to the current years national budget plan law which specifies the requirement for gas
intake should be observed.The winter in this years winter season has been cited as the factor for the discount rate
It has actually also been said that a few of these subscribers are living in small cities and villages.If the main issue of the government
is those subscribers who live in small cities and villages, this time it can provide discount rates to them however apply the guideline
Even if this group is offered a discount rate this time, they will happen with their lavish consumption.However, Moslem Rahmani, an
authorities at the National Iranian Gas Company, has stated that based upon the order of the president this discount will continue in the
present Iranian calendar year, which ends on March 20
This shows that the sitting government, like the previous ones, is following populist techniques towards energy consumption.Giving discount
rates to extreme customers in huge cities - like Tehran, Tabriz and Mashhad - is an injustice to those who have been heating their houses by
The elegant customers not only have squandered energy to the detriment of national wealth, however they have also been contributing more to
the choking air pollution, which is seriously impacting the health of citizens.In a federal government whose primary slogan is justice, such
a discount rate is a clear example of injustice.Such populist policies toward energy consumption have turned Iran into one of the best
customers of energy-- gas, electricity, and petrol - in proportion to its population.It is better that federal government officials,
particularly the president, focus on basic commodities whose rates have skyrocketed incredibly rather than rewarding the excessive customers
of energy.Officials and normal individuals must see how the Europeans are regulating their gas intake despite the reality that Russian gas,
which up until February 2022 represented about 40 percent of intake in Europe, no longer flows to the cold continent due to the problems
surrounding the Ukraine war.By following such a policy, we can not train citizens conscious wasteful usage of energy, its real value,
building energy-efficient houses, and more significantly sensitive to the security of the environment.Experts and authorities have warned
that if gas intake continues at the present rate, Iran will become a gas importer in future years.If for specific factors, particularly
sanctions and high expenses of living, increasing gas costs is not profitable, it is necessary that officials embrace plans to lower
consumption of gas, electricity, fuel and water
The more wrong policies continue, the more difficult it will be to reform them
Populist policies toward fuel rates over the last decades have produced a chain of problems.Now the general public reacts madly to even talk
of increasing fuel prices
They are more sensitive to petrol costs than bread prices.Now, gas consumption has actually remarkably exceeded 100 million liters daily and
the inefficient use of gas paired with subpar cars and trucks and motorcycles has made clean air a wish.In the end, it is the citizen who
will suffer significantly
