The government is working closely with Vodafone, bus operators, and the Land Transport Authority to address the issues raised regarding disposable cards and is progressing with developments in the IT systems that support e-ticketing.
This was mentioned by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka in response to a question raised by Opposition Member of Parliament, Premila Kumar who stressed that the service had been working well for the public and that its sudden removal has caused unnecessary inconvenience.
fijivillage News can confirm that the use of disposable cards was discontinued by the former FijiFirst government, and Kumar who was part of that administration, is now asking why it has been discontinued.
Rabuka says they accept there will be challenges, but in time things should settle, and they hope to avoid having too many disgruntled customers at bus stands.
Opposition Member of Parliament, Rinesh Sharma says there have been ongoing issues with the e-ticketing system, including problems with card and top-up access points, technical faults, lack of transparency, and inconvenience to customers.
He says these issues have persisted despite updates, but the cost has been borne by public service vehicle drivers, especially bus drivers.
Sharma stressed that there have been cases where bus drivers were assaulted or abused due to disputes over how passengers enter the bus or pay their fare, and questioned how a stronger justice system can be ensured to protect drivers affected by such system failures.
In response, Prime Minister Rabuka says when the current government came into office, they found the system was generally acceptable to bus operators.
Rabuka says a fair and objective approach is needed to resolve the issue.
He adds that the government is working alongside technological developments and improvements, and is asking everyone to cooperate in the process.
