From 1st October, no cash payment of bus fares shall be allowed on public buses as the travelling public will only be able to pay their bus fare using an e-Transport Card.
The government in partnership with Vodafone Fiji and the Fiji Bus Operators Association is now ready to open the e‑ticketing system on public buses to the members of the public as scheduled from the 1st of August to the 1st of October.
Attorney General and Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum says the government looks forward to this initiative as it present a lot of transparency and accountability.
Sayed Khaiyum says the e-ticking is also very helpful in respect to revenue collection.
He says school students, senior citizens and people living with disabilities will not have to go through the hassle of caring money or cards as they will now use the new e-Transport Cards.
The CEO of Vodafone Fiji Pradeep Lal says Vodafone has put in place a detailed rollout and communication plan with as much information as possible on eTransport for the benefit of the members of the public.
Lal says the cards are color differentiated to passenger types for ease of recognition.
He says you need to register to get a free of charge e-Transport card and the first replacement will be free of charge but after that card replacement will cost $5.00 each.
Lal says there are two types of e Transport cards available, a permanent card and a disposable card.
He says e-Transport cards cannot be topped up in the buses but disposable cards which do not require any registration and will be available in $2, $5, $10, $15, $20, $50, and $100 denominations in the buses.
He says in the next 3 weeks, they will be reaching out to rural areas and remote areas as these people will be able to recharge in canteens and shops in their respective areas.
