Meruzhan works as a supervisor at one of the valet parking lots in Yerevan. He's not able to supervise the parking lot for a whole day due to the heat and his weight and goes home at midday with only 1,500-2,500 drams in his pocket.
The supervisor says he doesn't know how much tax he pays at the end of the day and that it depends on how much money he makes. "These two cars have been here since morning and I didn't manage to see how they got here. I could have brought a couple of cars," says the supervisor who takes 1,000 drams from each driver.
Drivers also complain about the supervisors' work and say most of them work illegally. "If it was legal, they would present stubs. Sometimes they don't even have identification cards or they have them without stamps," says driver Arman Hakobyan.
Further away taxi driver Hamlet presented the entire process in more detail. "They don't take money from us. Drivers pay 100-200 drams depending on whether the driver waits or not. In general, tax rates vary," says Hamlet.
In regard to the number of registered valet parking lots in Yerevan and the amount taken from parking lot supervisors, the Department of Transportation at Yerevan Municipality advised to address the territorial subdivisions of the State Cadastre Committee of Real Estate adjunct to the RA Government and the taxing bodies because the mayor has given the valet parking lot areas to the districts with the right to permanent use.
However, the department correspondents clearly stated that there are free parking lots in Yerevan, including 40 parking lots for taxis.
As for illegal supervisors, in the written response from the department it is stated that according to the existing charter, the supervisors working at the parking lot are obliged to carry an identification document with a stamp. Besides personal information, the document must also state information about the businessman providing that parking lot.
"The collection of money by individuals who don't have that document is connected to the functions of law-enforcement bodies," as stated in the response.
