After hundreds of people were left unable to top up their eTransport Bus Cards, Vodafone Fiji confirms the issue was isolated to network connectivity problems affecting point-of-sale terminals used by agents for top-ups.
Vodafone has apologised for the situation, saying that the issue was resolved later in the evening yesterday, and all services have been fully restored and are now operating normally.
The company says immediate actions have been taken to address the connectivity issue on the agent network by enabling offline top-up services via EFTPOS terminals - this will allow top-ups to be processed without requiring an internet connection.
Vodafone adds that a nationwide communication and training programme is currently being rolled out to ensure all top-up agents are fully equipped to use this new offline capability when needed.
The company says several critical infrastructure upgrades and redundancies will be implemented across its point of sale systems to prevent similar incidents in the future.
They add that they are also working on introducing QR Pay as a payment option on buses in the coming months, which will allow passengers to travel without needing an eTransport card or to top up a card.
Vodafone further says that it has recently introduced the E-Transport Mobile App, which allows customers to top up their eTransport cards using an NFC-enabled smartphone and digitally redeem card balances.
The company is urging customers to upgrade to the new eTransport cards to take full advantage of the enhanced features available through the app.
Meanwhile, a concerned citizen shared the incident on her facebook page, stating that multiple Vodafone Fiji outlets, including the main top-up service point at MHCC, were unable to process mobile credit transactions due to the outage.
People were forced to line up in the rain at the small Vodafone booth near the bus stand to top up their e-transport cards.
She adds that staff at the booth reportedly closed without notice while people were still waiting in line, offering no explanation or warning.
The situation was further worsened when drivers refused to accept cash, leaving people with no clear way to reach their homes.
