TACI

International Documents (IDPs, CPDs and ICAs) Man-agement

In 1963, the club’s original aim of facilitating the safe passage of Iranians wishing to travel abroad and helping tourists travelling to Iran was boosted by Iran’s accession to the 1949 Convention on Road Traffic, and the national government authorized the club to issue International Driving Permits (IDPs) and International Registration Certificate for Iranian citizens. Immediately after the Islamic Revolu-tion in Iran, according to the Act of the Islamic Consultative Assem-bly (The Parliament), TACI was appointed as exclusive organization responsible for issuing IDPs, and the vehicle ownership documents throughout Iran under the provisions of the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic and the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. For TACI, the main source of income is issuing IDPs and vehicle ownership documents and International License Plates.

The origins of the organization now known as the Touring and Automobile Club of the Islam-ic Republic of Iran (TACI) stretch right back to the days before World War II, with the founda-tion of the Imperial Automobile Club of Iran in 1935 and its formal recognition by authorities in 1939.

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The club continues to provide tourism information services for Iranians and foreign tourists and to facilitate this, the TACI has formed the Comprehensive Tourism Information System (Dial 09629) which helps everyone throughout the country. From

March 2013 to March 2014, the number of tourists traveling to Iran was 4,801,000, and the num-ber of Iranian tourists traveling abroad was 6,959,000. The fig-ure for Iranians touring their own country during the same period has been estimated at approxi-mately 40 million!

he Comprehensive TourismInformation System

ourism Activities

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TAccording to the Articles of Association, the TACI follows a variety of activities in the field of tourism since many years ago. the TACI’s current activities include management of a tourism portal (www.tourismiran.ir) in two international languages (English and Arabic), participation in international tourism and handicrafts exhibitions (as representative of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization), establishing an executive secretariat for the Iranian Tourism Information Overseas Representatives, investment and exploita-tion of residential units like hotels or motels (prioritizing the historical one), production and dissemination of cultural and promotional items for introducing Iran in various international languages.

The TACI also historically looked after motor sport in the coun-try and the Sport Commission of TACI began its activities in 1960 headed by an American of French origin, with its early activities centering on the provision of special courses to train drivers for different automobile events and short-distance rallies. In 1970 the second Asian Highway Motor Rally started successfully from Tehran and after passing through Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, In-dia, Nepal and Bangladesh finished in Dacca, the capital of pres-ent Bangladesh which was organized by TACI. From 1974 onwards Iranian members of the TACI directed the Sport Commission and a broad calendar of events was held every year. From 1979 to 1982, during the Islamic Revolution and the imposed war between Iran and Iraq, the activities of the Sport Commission were limited to two or three rallies per year. Following the establishment of the Motorcycle & Automobile Federation of I.R. of Iran (MAFIRI) in 1995, the TACI’s sporting activities ceased.

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The club maintains a strong focus on historical vehicles, however, and as a part of the country’s national heritage, the TACI began working with government authorities on the preservation of such vehicles. These activities resulted in the adoption of a specific code on 29 June, 2010. The code provided for the establishment of a national ad hoc working group dedicated to the Identification and Preservation of Historical Vehicles(IPHC). This featured rep-

he Identification and Preservation of Historical Vehicles

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resentatives from Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tour-ism Organization (as Chair), Iran’s Department of Environment, its Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, the Islamic Republic of Iran Police, the Ministry of Sport and Youth, and the TACI. The secre-tariat of the working group is based at the TACI’s headquarters in Tehran. To date two important activities of the working group have been the commissioning of a national Historical Vehicle Li-cense Plate and also the establishment of a national Historical Ve-hicle Registration Certificate.

The club’s Roadside Assistance Service was established in 1968 with the aim of providing relief services (towing and repair) for Iranian and foreign tourists and by 2014, the TACI had a total of 12,000 subscribers to the different types of the club’s roadside assistance membership programmes. In total the club has a mem-bership of approximately 200,000.

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The assistance service put in place by the clubs has led to the establishment of branches in most provinces of the 1.6 million square kilometer country and the TACI has developed a progres-sive and constructive co-operation with the relevant organizations including the Traffic Police, the Road Maintenance & Transporta-tion Organization, the Relief and Rescue Organization of the Ira-nian Red Crescent Society, the Disaster and Emergency Medical Management Center, and other relevant organizations to provide safety on the Iranian roads.

TACI is proud of having the first nationwide roadside assistance services in Iran, which covers the most of the roads and busy road axes of the provinces. It has deployed local rescuers and has created branches in most provinces.

The club uses a large network of provincial rescue call centers and a radio communication system, contracted garages, representa-tive agents, rescuers and inspection teams throughout the coun-try. This enables it to provide the roadside assistance services in the shortest possible time to members or non-members 24-hours a day.

The club has plans for expansion, too, and in the future is set to boost its assistance services, launch a mobile app and widen its regional reach.

There is more to come, via collaboration with educa-tional institutions and a concerted effort in the area of driver training. The Miras e Iranian Educational Re-search Institute which is affiliated to the TACI, is es-tablishing some long-term and short-term academic courses on the fields of Roadside Assistance, Traffic Safety, etc. using some experts and well known uni-versity lecturers who are engaged in the Iranian road safety issues.

Written by Mehdi Alamdar, TACI

In line with the UN decade of Action for Road Safety(2011-2020), the TACI also formed the Committee of Developing Safe Driving Culture to promote road safety issues. This committee is planning some different cultural and artistic events, especially for children, ado-lescents and youths of different age groups, in co-operation with organizations and institutions active in this field. The committee will expand its activities in order to improve the culture-building on safe driving in the future.

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