The transportation fare in Lebanon increased by 400 percent within one year, in light of the rise in fuel prices and the sharp devaluation of the Lebanese currency against the US dollar, making maintenance costs very high.
Researcher at Information International Mohammed Shamseddine said that the price of 20 liters of gasoline increased from LBP 26,000 in September 2020 to currently reach LBP 203,000 (about 13.5 dollars on the black market exchange rate).
In a radio statement, he said that the transportation tariff increased by 400 percent, noting that the demand for the dollar rose due to the lifting of subsidies on diesel fuel.
Meanwhile, cases of fraud and manipulation of the price of diesel fuel (mazout) were registered over the past few days, forcing the government authorities to intervene.
Ministers of Energy and Water, Walid Fayyad, and Economy and Trade, Amin Salam, announced, in a joint statement, that they had received complaints of abuses and an illegal increase in the price of diesel fuel on the market.
They denounced the actions and announced that they were “in the process of taking urgent measures to combat any fraudulent act, starting with stopping the delivery of the material to the concerned distributors and initiating legal procedures against them.”
The statement urged all those affected to inform the concerned authorities in the Consumer Protection Department, in order to prevent the persistence of similar violations.
The Ministry of Economy and Trade pledged to “take the immediate and appropriate administrative and judicial action against anyone who violates the laws.”
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