Chipcard operator launches fast-track refund procedure

Photo: Maurits Vink via Wikimedia Commons

Public transport users will find it easier to reclaim the balance on their OV travelcards from today thanks to a change in the refund procedure.

Operator Travelink has introduced online and phone hotlines so that holders of anonymous blue chipcards can arrange for the money to be paid into their bank account. Until now anonymous cards were only refunded if the owner filled in a form.

Junior infrastructure minister Sharon Dijksma ordered the company to simplify the system so that passengers were not left out of pocket by bureaucracy. Translink estimates that around €5 million is sitting unclaimed on out-of-date chipcards.

Balances on personalised cards are automatically repaid to the holder’s account when the card expires. Information on OV travelcards is stored online for a year, during which time owners can reclaim their money online or by phone. Passengers who apply after a year has passed will have to fill in a form.

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