02 September 2013

Commuters charged wrong myki ticket prices in driver mix-up

THOUSANDS of bus commuters are being charged the wrong fares in the latest snag for the $1.5 billion myki system. 
 
The Herald Sun can reveal passengers are being overcharged and undercharged at least 105 times a month, with Public Transport Victoria laying the blame on bus drivers.

The system relies on bus drivers correctly entering information about their route before every journey so myki knows which fare is appropriate. But when a driver fails to update the information or enters the incorrect route, the wrong charge will be deducted.

Barrister Bill Rimmer said he noticed he was being charged different fares for the same trip from Collingwood to the city a couple of months ago and contacted Public Transport Victoria.

"Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose and sometimes we come out square," Mr Rimmer said.

"It is completely serendipitous when I get on the bus."

The Public Transport Users Association said it was the latest example of bus passengers being charged the wrong fares.

Mr Rimmer said it was ridiculous the onus was on customers to notice they had been incorrectly charged and contact PTV.

"Quite often, I have got the benefit of this stuff-up. I haven't sat down and done the homework to see if I am in front but it seems a bit ridiculous that I should even have to," Mr Rimmer said.

"They should find out every time people have been overcharged and give them a refund."

PTV said of the 1.5 million trips taken on Melbourne's buses last month, 0.007 per cent of passengers were overcharged. It did not say how many were undercharged.

But PTUA president Tony Morton said myki should be working. "We were also being told these problems would be fixed once the driver consoles were installed and it appears they haven't," Dr Morton said.

PTV spokesman Adrian Darwent said Mr Rimmer was incorrectly charged because of human error, with the driver entering the wrong route data into the console.

He said incorrect charging should be eliminated if the correct route and shift data was entered. "Any customer who believes they may have paid more for their fare than required can review their travel charges online if they have a registered myki, or contact 1800 800 007 and PTV staff can assist," Mr Darwent said.

"All instances where it has been shown that customers have been overcharged have been reimbursed."

Bus commuters were the slowest to take up the smartcard in the lead-up to myki becoming the only public transport ticketing on December 29.

Bus passengers travelling between zones were overcharged at times when Metcard and myki were both operating.

Public transport bosses said the problem happened because myki equipment was only partially installed and sometimes struggled to pick up a bus's location.

news.com.au  25 aug 2013

Unfortunately, fraud committed by corporations is (deliberately?) labeled by the corporate media, as a 'mix-up' or 'glitch' or 'computing error'.

Any true fraud committed against the masses does not see court time.

The cases that do go to court are the ones the corporate media are allowed to report on, and in any event, the costs are recovered by the corporation many time over at a later date

Australian courts are businesses that work for the benefit of the corporation (Australia) with exclusive Anglo-Masonic links.

Myki was brought in to monitor the movements of the masses by the 'authorities'.

No comments: