Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan confirmed that the city will start penalizing potential public transport fare non-payers this week, following staff training programs. During a working meeting of the Yerevan Municipality, Deputy Mayor Suren Grigoryan announced a change to the 2024 decision No. 13-90, under which the authority to enforce public transport fare regulations has been transferred to the Public Order Protection Service.
Grigoryan stated that previous technical issues have been resolved and that all work will be completed by the end of the current week, according to Panorama.am.
He also noted that training sessions will be organized for relevant municipal employees, introducing them to enforcement procedures. Once trained, they will begin issuing fines to passengers who do not pay the fare.
“This week we begin the training and effectively start fining potential violators,” said Mayor Avinyan.
“Yes,” responded the deputy mayor.
*Earlier, Avinyan had ordered an end to the use of printed QR code tickets, stating that from August 1 onwards, paper-format QR codes would no longer be valid.
Previously, the mayor's spokesperson Hayk Kostanyan stated that due to protests against fare increases in Yerevan, fare collection had decreased, making it impossible to purchase most of the planned vehicles. According to him, the city had planned to purchase 45 trolleybuses, but 30 of them will not be procured due to a lack of funds.*
