This Big Dublin Bus Change Could See You Lose Out On A Lot Of Money Each Year

Darragh Berry

Nobody likes carrying around coinage, even ask Tony McGregor, wha?

We hate the unhandiness of something ending in 5 cent or .99, just round it up to the full euro for feck sake.

So, the bus fare being €2.85 is a nuisance because 9/10, you’ll hand in the €3 just so it’s easy on yourself.

You get your receipt for the 15c and you’ll either store it away for the refund or you’ll get bored on the journey, ball it up and stick in your back pocket never to be found again.

Well whether you’re a reclaimer or a ‘don’t care about my change sir’, from the start of September, things are changing on Dublin Bus.

Dublin Bus have said that they “wish to advise customers that from 9 September, you will no longer be issued a ‘refund due’ receipt when you overpay for your journey with cash on board our buses.

“Instead, you will be issued with an ‘extra payment’ receipt that is non-redeemable.”

In a statement to Lovin Dublin, Dublin Bus said that:

“The removal of the ‘refund due’ facility on Dublin Bus services is required to facilitate the National Transport Authority’s objective to move to cashless operations on all buses under the BusConnects programme. The National Transport Authority is responsible for all aspects of the regulation of fares and ticketing.

“From 9 September, Dublin Bus customers will no longer be issued a ‘refund due’ receipt if they overpay for their journey with cash. Instead, they will be issued with a non-redeemable ‘extra payment’ receipt.

“We encourage our customers to purchase a Leap Card which is at least 20% cheaper than paying for their journey using cash and is more convenient to use. 70% of our customers already use Leap Card to pay for their journey.

“If a customer overpays for their journey with cash after 9 September, the extra change will go towards continuing to improve our services and to local communities across the Greater Dublin Area through the Community Spirit Awards. The awards has helped almost 1,800 charities and voluntary groups through unclaimed passenger change since 2003.

“Due to the introduction of Leap Card, the total amount of change received from overpayments has decreased by 63% over the last 5 years. The amount of change which has been reclaimed by customers has also decreased year on year and in 2017, 10.4% of this change was reclaimed. In 2017 the unclaimed change value was approximately €600,000. These trends have continued into 2018.

“Customers who have a “refund due” receipt can still reclaim their change at any time.”