In an effort to protect passenger rights, the Taipei Smart Card Corporation (TSCC) yesterday announced it would deposit the more than NT$1.3 billion (US$40 million) it has collected in advance fees from EasyCards into a trust fund.
The multi-purpose EasyCard, used to pay transit fees on Taipei MRT lines and buses, is extremely popular, with 10 million cards in circulation as of last October following its launch on June 12, 2002.
The number of cards is expected to reach 15 million in the near future, the TSCC said.
PHOTO: CNA
Besides the advance fees collected from the EasyCards, the TSCC added about NT$100 million and deposited the money into a Cathay United Bank account.
TSCC general manager Jason Lin (林志盈) said the company added an extra 5 percent to highlight the company's efforts to protect its customers.
"I am very confident about the sale of smart cards, but I think putting the advance fees into the trust fund offers more protection for our customers," he told a press conference yesterday at Taipei City Hall.
Addressing the ceremony, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) approved of TSCC's move, and promised to oversee the fund and protect the rights of all cardholders.
"I applaud TSCC's innovative measure and its sincerity. It is not only 100 percent sincere about protecting customers, it is 105 percent," Hau said.
Besides MRT fees and buses, the cards can also be used to pay parking fees and for tickets to Taipei's Maokong gondola system.
The TSCC has already expanded the card's use to Taipei County, Keelung City and Taoyuan County and hopes to keep expanding the use of the card to other areas around the country.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS