Drivers Will No Longer Accept Cash Payments: Haik Kostanyan

Drivers will no longer accept cash payments and will not provide change. This was stated by Haik Kostanyan, spokesperson for the Yerevan mayor, in a conversation with Sputnik Armenia.

The main motivation behind this decision is to ensure that drivers focus on their primary responsibilities. “Accepting money and giving change should not be part of drivers' work. This is one of the most important components that we want to completely eliminate. We also aim to eradicate shadow activities. Shadows can arise when a driver is given cash to provide change to a citizen, but at the end of the day, they do not return that money at all. Over time, we aim to remove cash from circulation,” Kostanyan said.

He had difficulty answering whether there had been any cases of shadow activities but emphasized that they are well aware that if a person has cash, such incidents are possible.

Addressing complaints that the cameras installed on buses are not working, the Yerevan mayor's spokesperson stressed that they are functioning reliably, and all incidents and issues are recorded. According to him, all complaints are also addressed with solutions.

It should be noted that media reports have indicated that starting from May 1, the municipality has decided to change the payment system on buses.