According to the decision of the Tariff Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated July 30, 2018, despite the fact that intra-city fares are 30 kopecks across the country, within the city of Nakhchivan, the price was increased to 40 kopecks from the summer of 2022.

The reason for this is that the State Transport Service of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic bought new buses and paid loans without state support.

After the critical articles published in the press, today the Cabinet of Ministers of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic once again sent the Decision dated March 14, 2022 on "Tariffs of passenger transportation services on regular bus routes in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic" to the relevant institutions.

Based on those tariffs, 30 kopecks have been set for intra-city passenger transportation, regardless of the distance.

APA reports with reference to "Nuhchikhan" that the director of the State Transport Service of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Ali Huseynaliyev, confirmed the re-regulation of prices.

"When asked about the reason for the illegal price increase, he said that it was based on the instructions given by the higher authorities.

The re-adjustment of the service fee has caused discontent among drivers engaged in passenger transportation.

They report that although the service fee has been lowered, the daily plan set for them by the Transport Service still remains at 94 manats.

Even the fact that the service life of most of the route buses is more than 10 years results in high maintenance costs.

Also, neither fuel nor spare parts are provided by the service.

In addition, the payment of wages to drivers has been stopped.

According to Ali Huseynaliyev, director of the State Transport Service of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, the dissatisfaction of the drivers is unfounded.

The drivers stated that the contracts in question were signed by the police under coercion and have no legal force.

The result shows that although the legal rights of passengers have been restored, this time drivers are left in a difficult situation.

In any case, the relevant institutions will investigate the issue in more detail and reach a solution," the publication said.