Gum, Paper, Lead, Damage E-Ticketing
Repairs to e-Ticketing machines in the last 15 months have amounted to $160,000 with an additional $120,000 in parts on order. Some e-Ticketing machines at the Suva bus stand and around Fiji are currently not operational because of vandalism and tampering by members of the public.
Foreign substances have been found to be the cause of damages to these machines affecting thousands of Fijians who access it daily to top-up their bus cards.
Vodafone Fiji chief executive officer Ronald Prasad said the machines get damaged when people try to trick the system by inserting paper instead of notes or circular lead cuttings in place of coins.
He said they have also found chewing gum pushed into the slots and people physically damaging the machines with force.
“Fortunately, Fijians can top-up at any EFTPOS machine via Vodafone’s agents, and many other operational E-Ticketing machines around the country, including just a few metres away from the E-Ticketing machines at the Suva bus stand. Fijians can also use mPaisa to top-up at any time,” Mr Prasad said.
“We knew that accessibility to all Fijians was essential for e-Ticketing which is why we have such an extensive network for top-up. We took these steps very early on to make it easy for Fijians, meaning if one top-up option went down, as the machine at the bus stand did, they will easily be able to top-up nearby.”
Fijians are urged to be more responsible as Vodafone waits for parts for the machines to arrive which have been delayed due to shipping disruptions caused by COVID-19.