Concerns are now being raised by people that bus drivers who do not have disposable E-transport cards in their buses are not letting the people travel in the bus.
The E-ticketing law clearly states that a bus operator must ensure that disposable bus cards are available for sale at all times on any bus owned by the bus operator.
A penalty of $1000 applies if this is not adhered to by the bus operators.
A failure to pay the fine on their part will be liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000.
Disputes are occurring in some buses where the drivers are refusing to take passengers saying that it is their responsibility to get the cards before they board the bus.
Some drivers have told us that the owners are only giving 10 disposable cards for a day and the demand is much higher than that.
When questioned by Fijivillage on the issue, President of Fiji Bus Operators Association Richard Lal says the disposable cards were designed for one-off travellers maybe for the maritime areas or tourists.
Lal says the sad thing is that they have regular travellers using disposable cards and they have been given free e-transport cards yet they don’t choose to use that and they come to a driver and try and buy disposable cards.
Lal admits that under the law, the disposable cards have to be carried by the drivers and provided by the bus companies.
However, he says people should recharge their e-transport cards and not depend on the disposable cards.
Lal says some people also come with large denominations of money and drivers do not carry cash anymore as the system is supposed to be a cashless system.
People have informed Fijivillage that they only prefer to use disposable cards if they are in a rush and are unable to recharge their E-transport cards or they are starting work early in the morning or finish off late at night, and it is difficult to recharge their cards at that time of the day or night.
We are currently trying to speak to Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum on the matter.
