Tag Archives | regulation

Uber and Careem No Longer Allowed to Pick Up Passengers from Beirut Airport

By Rami on April 4, 2019 in Beirut, Transportation, What the fuck!

Several news websites reported last week that a new decision (number 1/247) was issued by the Minister of Transport that aims to organize the operation of Taxi cabs at the airport, an urged taxi drivers to abide with it as of the first of April. No details were provided about that decision and the ministry website didn’t have any information, so it all sounded vague.

A few days later I started hearing about people arriving to Beirut Airport not being able to meet their designated drivers at the exit and I just made sure yesterday it was because of that decision.

A friend of mine arrived last night and tried to use Careem, but a few minutes later the driver called and told him he can no longer go beyond the army check point (around 700m away from the airport entrance), and that he should meet him there to pick him up. With too much distance to walk, my friend decided to simply cancel the ride and book one of the official airport taxi cars, except that they told him it will cost “around $50” to drive him to Dekwane which is ridiculously exorbitant, so he just said thanks and called one of his relatives to come take him instead.

So whatever that decision states, it essentially no longer allows taxi river to pick up their arriving passengers from the parking lot as before in order to force people to use the official airport taxi drivers who are infamous for charging very high amount for a few kilometers rides. Therefore, in case you are arriving to Beirut anytime soon, make sure to arrange for a friend or relative to pick you up if you don’t want to bear unnecessary charges.

Keep in mind that our so called tourism season should start in a few weeks from now, and this decision is basically the best way to kick it off!

Update (April 5th 2019):

Private taxi companies can pick up passengers from the airport only if they apply for a special permit from the syndicate of Lebanese taxi drivers for every ride they want to make.

The permit should include the passengers name along with their flight details in order not to be used more than once.

Update 2 (April 5th 2019):

Minister of Transportation Youssef Fenianos just reversed his decision, so taxi drivers can pick up incoming passengers from the parking lot just like before.

New Parking Tariffs in Beirut

By Rami on July 2, 2016 in Governmental, Law

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Due to the disproportionate tariffs set by parking owners across Beirut, governor Ziad Chebib and the municipality recently issued a new decree setting the maximum fees you should pay for private parkings around the city after dividing it into 4 regions as shown above, and the new tariffs are as follows:

First region (Blue):

from 0 to 3 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 3 to 5 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 5 to 8 hours:
5,000 L.L.
8 to 10 hours:
6,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
7,000 L.L.

Second region (Green):

from 0 to 4 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 4 to 7 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 7 to 10 hours:
5,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
6,000 L.L.

Third region (Yellow):

from 0 to 3 hours:
2,000 L.L.
from 3 to 5 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 5 to 8 hours:
3,500 L.L.
from 8 to 10 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
5,000 L.L.

Fourth region (Red):

from 0 to 4 hours:
2,000 L.L.
from 4 to 7 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 7 to 10 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
4,000 L.L.

As for covered parking spaces, the following tariffs apply:

First region (Blue):

from 0 to 3 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 3 to 5 hours:
5,000 L.L.
from 5 to 8 hours:
6,000 L.L.
from 8 to 10 hours
7,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
8,000 L.L.

Second region (Green):

from 0 to 4 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 4 to 7 hours:
5,000 L.L.
from 7 to 10 hours:
6,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
7,000 L.L.

Third region (Yellow):

from 0 to 3 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 3 to 5 hours:
3,500 L.L.
from 5 to 8 hours:
4,000 L.L.
8 to 10 hours:
4,500 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
5,500 L.L.

Fourth region (Red):

from 0 to 4 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 4 to 7 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 7 to 10 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours
4,500 L.L.

Note that the time is rounded up to the nearest hour after 10 minutes.

I’m not really sure how serious will the municipality be about obliging parking owners to abide by the set tariffs, but the chart will at least help you know whether you’re being ripped off or not!

Drugs Price List in Lebanon Now Available Online

By Rami on June 11, 2016 in Government, Health

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The Ministry of Public Health released their new website and mobile app a few days ago, and among the new services they now offer is a listing of the available drugs in Lebanon along with their official prices so you can compare them with the prices set by your local pharmacy and know if you’re being overcharged, in addition to the ability to compare a certain drug to its available alternatives having the same formula.

This is definitely a good step forward by the ministry to identify the pharmacies that do not abide by the set prices, and ensure that consumers are getting their medicine at a fair price.

The drugs price list is available both on the ministry’s website and the mobile app for iOS and Android.

Central Bank of Lebanon Prohibits Prepaid Cards

By Rami on April 8, 2016 in Lebanon

BDL

If you haven’t heard about it yet, the Central Bank of Lebanon issued intermediary circular nb415 a couple of weeks ago requesting banks and financial institutions to stop issuing and offering prepaid cards to their customers.

This decision comes as a response to the recent international recommendations after the bombings that hit Europe, since it appeared that terrorists were using these anonymous prepaid cards to cover their identity when buying the needed materials to execute their crimes. The problem here is that some cards are sold off the shelf at bookstores and supermarkets as internet and gift cards with no need to supply any personal information, therefore anybody can use them to buy almost anything without leaving a trace of his identity. That’s why the European Commission is currently working to regulate the usage of prepaid cards and virtual currencies, and Lebanon is following their steps by simply banning dealing with these cards all together.

Needless to say, this is going to upset a lot of people who used to get things done with cards like BLOM’s Visa Mini or Bank of Beirut’s SKIP card without the need to have an account with the issuing bank. Some people still don’t trust the internet with their credit card info and resort to using these prepaid ones whenever they need to purchase stuff online, while others simply use them because they don’t have a bank account like students. And knowing how BDL is usually serious about its decisions, you currently have no option other than opening a bank account and then going through the usual procedure of applying to a credit/internet card that gets linked to your account and eventually traces back to you each time you use it online or at a POS terminal.

However, if your main concern is anonymity, then you can use a service like MaskMe which allows you to generate a virtual card number for the amount you need to spend online in order to use it with the web merchant. This way, your real credit card statement will show a payment to MaskMe, and the merchant will not be able to know your real identity.

This new measure might be necessary to stop the terrorists’ access to funds, but it totally sucks for people who opt for more practical solutions… and until regulators introduce some new control over these cards before offering them again, you will have to bond a little more with your preferred bank!

Will Julian Khazzouh play in the Lebanese basketball league?

By Rami on October 30, 2012 in Lebanon

There are some things in this country that are meant to never be understood. Things like whether sports players who have earlier played in the Israeli leagues are allowed to play in Lebanon or not.

The basketball player you see in the photo above is Julian Khazzouh, a Lebanese who was born in Australia where he played for the Sydney Kings in addition to some other Europan teams and Israel’s Ironi Ramat Gan. He also recently joined the Sagesse squad and is supposed to start playing for them starting the upcoming season.

Now you all know it was made clear last year that foreign players who previously received a work permit in Israel are not allowed to play for the Lebanese sports club.

However, Julian Khazzouh used his Australian passport to play for the Israel team, but started using the Lebanese ID he already has when he came here, and practically the law doesn’t apply to him anymore since it just mentions foreign players!

Moreover, it’s very clear for the Lebanese that traveling to Israel or dealing with Israelis is against the law, yet the Lebanese Basketball Federation is still to this moment going in discussions to decide whether Khazzouh will be given a permit to play or not! How on earth is this a hard case to solve?!

What’s even more shameful than Sagesse signing this guy is reading people like Elie Mechantaf defending him!

“We solved the issue with the Lebanese judiciary, as he [Khazzouh] played in Israel with his Australian passport,” Sagesse’s former captain and current president Elie Mchantaf said.

“[Khazzouh] has now regained Lebanese nationality and the law does not prevent him from playing here.

“We are working lawfully regarding this issue, and I assure everyone that he will be present in Sagesse’s first game of the season,” he added. Source

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