Commuter card extension may lead to revenue losses

The decision on Tuesday by the Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA) to allow commuters in the Greek capital to use their old October passes until November 15, is expected to lead to new revenue losses.

This is because commuters who have already purchased the new electronic cards – which can be used for 30 days from the moment they are validated – can still commute with their previous monthly card.

Meanwhile, the Data Protection Authority has dismissed the accusation leveled against it by the Transport Ministry that it is to blame for the long lines of commuters queuing at issuing booths to replace their old monthly passes with the new electronic cards.

The ministry had said that the authority’s refusal to allow the online issuing of the new cards led to the queues. However, the data authority said in a statement that it did not forbid online ticketing, but encouraged it.