[Janelle Ward]

Public transport users are sitting on almost $200 million in pre-paid fares, with half of that sum loaded on unused and expired myki cards, Victoria’s Transport Department warns.

The swelling balance has prompted calls for Victorians to search for their old mykis and claim a refund on any credit.

The Department of Transport and Planning’s annual report, released last week, shows it was holding $197.5 million in myki cardholder funds as of 30 June – an increase from $176 million a year earlier, and up from $142 million in 2019.

A spokesperson said about $100 million was sitting on myki cards that had not been used for at least 12 months. “We encourage everyone to check for expired mykis and have any outstanding balances refunded or transferred to their current myki,” the spokesperson said.

Do you have money sitting on an old myki?

[David Watherston]

The Victorian myki card problem highlights the fact that visitors to Melbourne and in fact each of the other capital cities, is in order to visit these cities and travel on their Public Transport Systems, we must buy a card that is not transferable between states or even within other regions of those states.
When we return home that card is thrown in a drawer and forgotten with a few dollars left and no easy way to cash it in.
In Queensland, our go-card is usable in the south-east region only but can’t be used in other regions of the state. Hence our go-card has not been used for a number of years by us as we are not residents of the south-east corner.

[Author]

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