Waking up in Geelong

I last wrote about unwanted myki receipts way back in January 2013, but unfortunately the problem still hasn’t been fixed – instead money is spent on paper that just gets thrown on the ground.

I found piles of them in June 2013.

January 2014 wasn’t any better.

The month of November 2014 saw no change.

And August 2015 was more of the same.

Tom Minear of the Sunday Herald Sun recently wrote about the scale of the problem.

Unwanted myki transport receipts cost Victorian taxpayers $16,000 a month
Tom Minear
September 27, 2015

Myki was supposed to be a paperless ticket system — but taxpayers are paying nearly $16,000 a month for receipts commuters don’t want.

Public Transport Victoria has racked up a $477,104 bill since January 2013 because ­receipts print automatically for every EFTPOS myki top-up, even if commuters specifically decline to take one.

A Freedom of Information investigation which reveals the full extent of the paper wastage found PTV spent $71,589 on ­receipt rolls for myki machines in just one month last year.

But the besieged system’s use of “thermal printing” meant taxpayers did not have to fork out for ink or toner to print the unwanted receipts.

PTV is now promising to stop receipts printing for every transaction, even though they were working to fix the glitch nearly three years ago.

How many more years will it take until the problem is finally fixed?

June 2019 update

The problem is finally fixed!

Seven years after the former Liberal state government promised to address the issue, the current Public Transport Minister said the problem has finally been fixed.

Melissa Horne said a software modification to more than 500 Myki ticket machines meant unwanted receipts would no longer be produced for train, tram and bus users.
Audio: Myki bugbear finally fixed, says Minister (Breakfast)

Ms Horne said previous Australian Tax Office requirements meant receipts had to be issued when customers paid for tickets with EFTPOS or credit cards.

“PTV (Public Transport Victoria) has been able to get that clearance from its banking provider to make sure there is the compliance, and no longer would people need to get those receipts,” she told ABC Radio Melbourne.

Liked it? Take a second to support Marcus Wong on Patreon!