Yep, even DOTr thinks those Beep card prices are BS

ICYMI, the Department of Transporation has implemented a cashless payment system on buses with routes in EDSA starting October 1. Commuters will now pay using a ‘beep card’, which is a reloadable, stored value card first used in LRTs and MRTs.

And while the move was made with the good intention of curbing COVID-19 case rates, commuters decried the not-so-wallet-friendly fees.

Each new beep card is priced at PHP 180, where PHP 80 is for the one-time payment for the card’s cost, and PHP 100 is for the initial stored load.

“Kaya nga may public transport para kahit kaming mahihirap maka-biyahe papuntang trabaho. Pero pahirap ‘tong mahal na…

Posted by Jacque Manabat on Thursday, October 1, 2020

 

If you think the deal is a bit hefty for the average commuter, especially during these tough times, you’re not alone. Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade agreed that the cost of the card should at least be waived.

‘Dapat libre lang ang card. We are still under quarantine measures. Workers who have just returned to work are the main users of the rail system and the EDSA Busway’, said Tugade in a statement via GMA News.

‘They should be spared from the burden of having to pay the price of the beep card on top of their fares’, he says, adding that the proposal is now being discussed with AF Payments Inc (AFPI), the makers of the cards.

For their part, AFPI says that they do not actually profit from the beep cards at its current price. The initial PHP 80 fee goes directly to the manufacturer of the chip found inside the card.

‘We do not earn a single peso from the Beep cards. What the passengers are paying for is the production cost of the chip, which is then charged by the manufacturer to us’, says Sharon Fong, AFPI’s chief commercial officer.

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Source: we the pvblic