Concerns have been raised on the unavailability of e-transport card top up outlets in some parts of the rural areas.

While praising the implementation of the e-ticketing system, Sunbeam Transport’s General Manager Zahid Wahab told FBC News most passengers living along the Kings highway are facing problems with e-ticketing top ups.

Wahab says this is mainly for the travelling public that live between Wainibuka and Rakiraki.

“Feedbacks from our drivers is that people in this areas people have the cards but are not able to top up so they’re using disposable cards for now and I believe Vodafone will be working something out to get top up stations out there as soon as possible.”

Head of Vodafone E-Commerce and Corporate Affairs Shailendra Prasad says they have covered the major towns, cities as well as shops that act as agents along the Kings Highway.

“We understand that people need the top up closer to their villages so this is an exercise which is going into the interior and this is an ongoing process. As you can understand this is quite a big project in terms of nationwide deployment and for some of the areas we’re still trying to reach those shops and outlets who have their own internal processes for approvals and making sure they understand how the system works.”

Prasad adds the shops that are expected to act as top up agents are taking slightly longer than expected however they’re still working on it to ensure top up facilities are convenient to those in rural areas.

Vodafone Fiji says outlets for e-Transport card top up’s should be available in most rural areas within about two weeks.

At present, there have been reports that top ups are not available along parts of the King’s Highway, the interior of Nadroga and parts of Vanua Levu.

There are currently 1000 operational top up agencies for e-cards however Vodafone says they hope to have 1200 in the next fortnight.