Vodafone Fiji has moved to quash growing confusion about lost eTransport cards, saying it neither receives nor controls funds stored on those cards and urging commuters to treat them like cash. The telco’s clarification follows mounting frustration among passengers — particularly students and low-income earners — over unrecoverable balances when cards go missing.
“Vodafone does not receive or control the funds stored on a lost card,” the company said in a statement, adding that suggestions the firm recovers or takes money from lost cards amount to misinformation. Vodafone explained that the eTransport system was designed for offline fare processing, and that any fare paid using a lost card is routed directly to the bus operator, not to Vodafone. If a lost card is never used again, the company said, the balance simply remains on the physical card and cannot be recovered.
The statement also acknowledged a change in practice. Under the previous system Vodafone sometimes processed refunds for customers who reported lost cards, doing so at its own expense despite being unable to verify the card’s remaining balance. “This was done to help customers, but it’s not financially sustainable to continue,” the company said, signaling a formal end to that ad hoc approach and warning commuters not to rely on refunds after loss.
Vodafone urged users to safeguard eTransport cards as they would cash or bank cards. “Treat your eTransport card like cash, avoid sharing it and take precautions to keep it safe, just as you would with your bank cards,” the statement said. The emphasis on offline processing helps explain why balances cannot be centrally audited or reallocated: fares are validated and settled without an online, real-time ledger linking individual card balances to a recoverable account.
Commuters have expressed ongoing concern that losing small balances can lead to real hardship, with students and people on low incomes particularly vulnerable to the impact of losing the money stored on cards. The clarification aims to correct misconceptions that Vodafone could step in to retrieve funds, but it also leaves unanswered questions for those who relied on the company’s past willingness to issue goodwill refunds.
The company’s announcement is the latest development in a steady stream of complaints about the transport payment system. By stressing that funds from lost cards go straight to bus companies and cannot be recovered if unused, Vodafone has set clearer expectations about the limits of its role: network provider and facilitator of the eTransport product, not the custodian of stored value on each card.
For now, commuters are being left with practical advice from Vodafone — safeguard cards, avoid sharing them, and treat them as cash — while consumer groups and transport stakeholders may need to consider longer-term technical or policy changes if public concern about lost-value incidents persists.