News

No travel if no funds on E-Transport card

January 16, 2020 6:30 am

Bus companies have decided not to allow any person to travel on buses if the individual doesn’t have funds on their E-Transport card.

The Fiji Bus Operators Association, say they will not even consider the plight of children who may not have had their cards topped up by the Ministry of Education as yet.

FBOA President Nisar Ali Shah, who was recently quite vocal in the Dominion Transport saga, claims thousands of students still have not received their travel funds from the Ministry of Education and over the previous three days, numerous operators have had to carry these students for free.

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He goes on to claim that an operator estimated his buses carried up to 2000 students free on Monday and Tuesday because funds had not yet been credited to students’ cards.

Shah says the delay in crediting students’ cards has further affected struggling bus operators because of the loss of revenue through carrying students for free of charge and this cannot continue to happen.

He says while they empathise with the affected students and their parents, delays by the relevant agencies in ensuring cards are topped up has forced them to take this action and they hope for a speedy resolution to this issue.

We have contacted Minister for Education on the issue.