During the pandemic process, the number of boarding passes in public transportation in Izmir fell by 50 percent on average, and a revenue loss of 20 million TL occurred in 734 months. Expressing that the overlapping fuel price hikes are just the spice of the bad picture, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer, reiterating the call for VAT and SCT exemption to public transportation services, said, “The knife has been cut to the bone”.
With the Covid-2020 epidemic, which has affected Turkey since March 19, and with the implementation of curfew restrictions, the number of boarding-ups in all public transportation vehicles in Izmir was reduced by 80 percent for months. The number of boarding passes, which was 1 million 900 thousand per day in the pre-pandemic period, decreased to 200 thousand. After the start of vaccinations and the end of the restrictions as of July 1, the daily average number of boarding started to increase again and has seen 1 million 600 thousand in recent weeks.
The extraordinary declines in passenger boarding and consecutive fuel price hikes in the past 20 months have had massively negative consequences on the financial statements of public transport organizations. Measures such as 50 percent passenger boarding restrictions, intensive disinfection studies and personal hygiene supports implemented in accordance with the decisions taken in the light of Presidential decrees within the scope of combating the pandemic also had a serious bill.
Revenue drop 49,12 percent
In the 1-month period from March 2020, 31 to October 2021, 20, the average boarding loss was 49,93 percent compared to the pre-pandemic period. While the number of rides on all public transportation vehicles was approximately 20 million in the previous 894 months, it decreased to approximately 447 million in this period. In the same period, the decrease in revenue loss was 49,12 million 734 thousand TL with 268 percent. Total revenue in the previous 20 months was 1 billion 494 million 757 thousand TL.
Exemption of excise duty at sea is over
On the other hand, the advantage of exemption from SCT on fuel, which İZDENİZ was able to benefit from, ended as of September. SCT was not collected from maritime transport companies within the scope of the exemption that has been applied since 2003 in order to develop Turkish maritime and shift the land-based inland transport to maritime transport. Within the scope of the EŞEL Mobile System (EMS), which was put into use in May 2018, a reduction in the SCT as much as the hike rate started so that the price hikes in fuel would not be reflected on the citizens. After the overlapping hikes, the amount of SCT has completely melted and has decreased to zero. Thus, it started to buy diesel oil over the pump prices announced in İZDENİZ.
10% load in the last 85 months!
The fuel cost of İZDENİZ suddenly increased by 2021% after the disappearance of the SCT advantage and the successive hikes in diesel fuel in the January-November 85 period. In 2021, a contract for 10 million liters of diesel oil was made for 23 million 800 thousand TL, excluding VAT, SCT and price difference. In the contract for the purchase of the same amount of fuel in 2022, 61 million 594 million TL was signed, excluding VAT and SCT.
President Soyer: Knife to bone
Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç SoyerEmphasizing that in addition to the negativities created by the pandemic process, the fuel hikes made consecutively due to the point of the country's economy, brought public transportation services closer to the point of being unsustainable. President Soyer, who said, "It went to the bone," said that the government must also take the responsibility in order to carry the extraordinary burden that has arisen.
“VAT and SCT should be reset”
“All the financial burdens of the fight against the pandemic in public transportation have been put on the shoulders of the municipalities. Despite the passenger boarding restrictions and the decrease in boarding numbers, all our public transportation vehicles worked at full capacity for months in order to protect public health. I would like to repeat my call to the President and the relevant ministries several times. The VAT and SCT amounts in the electricity and fuel prices used by institutions and organizations providing public public transportation services within local governments must be reset. If those who manage the state think about the low-income and employees who make up the widest part of the society, they have to take these decisions. The public interest demands it.”
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