OPUS card: fees illegal, according to the MUTUAL fund

CAMILLE GAÏOR / 24 HOURS / QMI AGENCY

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Wednesday, 31 January 2018 06:01

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Wednesday, 31 January 2018 06:01

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MONTREAL – If you are a regular user of public transport in the greater region of Montreal or Quebec city, it’s a safe bet that you are the holder of an OPUS card, on which you load the tickets that allow you to climb aboard the bus, subway and commuter rail system.

What you may not know this, it is that all the cards OPUS without photo issued from 2012 have a limited life span of four years, and that, from January 2017, all the transport companies that use it (Montreal, Laval, Longueuil, Québec city and Lévis) require that you déboursiez 6$ to get a new card when the one you have in your possession expires.

According to the opinion of the Office of the protection of the consumer, these fees, however, are illegal. “These cards are prepaid within the meaning of article 187.1 of the Act on the protection of consumers (LPC) and are therefore subject to the rules laid down in the LPC and its regulations. The article 79.3 of the Rules of application of the Law on consumer protection provides that a prepaid card can be replaced by the merchant for the following conditions: the replacement of the card does not have the effect of depriving the consumer of the balance of the card, the merchant shall provide in the contract of sale of the card the date of the replacement and the trader has to provide free of charge a new card to the consumer,” says his spokesman, Charles Tanguay.

However, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) believes it is not subject to the LPC. “It is not in agreement with the reading that makes the UCI of the situation. We consider that we are not a merchant within the meaning of the Act on the protection of the consumer, and we consider that the OPUS card is neither a prepaid card nor a gift card,” says his spokesperson Amélie Régis.

Originally, the cards OPUS had no expiration date. This is only mid-2012 that the transportation companies who use it have begun to indicate, the back of the card, as the latter has a “limited shelf life” and that its users need to navigate to a web portal and enter the serial number of the card to find the expiration date. “We did not have a penny with it,” defended Mrs. Regis, citing the “cost of production” to justify the$ 6 charged for a new card.

For its part, the Union of consumer qualifies this policy as “very questionable” or “doubtful”, and estimates that the cost of the card should be part of the operating costs of the transport company, thus assumed by it.

Almost all users interviewed at exit from a subway station, Tuesday, were unaware that they should pay a fee when they renew their card.

“I find that it’s pretty expensive,” said one of them. “I think we pay already in the beginning. It should just stay in our account,” added another. “The STM has to make money somewhere, even if the citizen is not happy… I swallow my pill and I pay,” said a client resigned.

Expires after four years

When questioned as to why the OPUS card had a life of barely four years, the Société de transport de Laval and the réseau de transport de Longueuil has not been able to provide us with a precise explanation, referring to both the ball to the STM.

The spokesperson for the STM has finally explained that the life span of the card has been established by the “community OPUS” based on “industry standards” and the “manufacturer’s recommendation”. A comparison made by TVANouvelles.ca with other companies of transport of Quebec and the rest of Canada demonstrates, however, that the trend is quite different, not only in terms of expiry of the card, but also in terms of renewal fees (see bottom of the page).

Contacted by TVANouvelles.ca, the French company that provides the cards OPUS has refused to tell us what was the warranty associated with their product. “This information is confidential and unique to each client/contract”, responded by e-mail the company Idemia.

However, in a press release of October 2013 in which it announces the renewal of its agreement with MCS for four years, Oberthur Technologies (today Idemia), touts the durability of its product. “The cards are made in a PET-F, a durable plastic, which is essential for the transportation cards, which must have a minimum useful life of seven years after issuance,” can it be read.

Use

The holders of an OPUS card who have paid for a renewal and who feel aggrieved may lodge a complaint by contacting the MUTUAL fund or commence civil proceedings by sending a notice to the transport company concerned; a cause which could possibly be heard in the small claims Division of the Court of Québec, according to the MUTUAL fund.

The Office may intervene with the transport companies in question by transmitting a warning, and then the seeking of criminal procedures, if applicable. The STM has not been able to tell us how many users have had to pay for the renewal of their card since the implementation of the new policy, a year ago. One thing is for certain, hundreds of thousands of cards OPUS are in circulation in the province.

The head of Transport to the executive committee of the City of Montreal, Éric Alan Caldwell, declined our interview request. By means of a support person to the elect, we were redirected to the STM, refusing to make any comment whatsoever.

OPUS is used by :

– Metropolitan transit system

– Société de transport de Montréal

– Société de transport de Laval

– Réseau de transport de Longueuil

– Transport network of the Capital

– Société de transport de Lévis

And elsewhere…

Société de transport de l’outaouais

Card: Multi

Expiration: 10 years for all cards issued since 2012

Position with respect to the cost of renewal: “The probability for a person to hold still to have his original card in his term, in 2022, is very low. Most of the time, by reason of loss or non-use of the title of transport for a period of time, the person will be issued a new card which again gives a range of ten years. […] The STO has not taken a decision for 2022 to know if a fee would be charged or not, but it is a safe bet that the expiration of 2022 will be very few holders. Therefore, it is more than possible, in these rare cases, the card will be renewed free of charge.”

Société de transport de Sherbrooke

Map: The vermeilleuse

The card project is still in break-in; the deployment officer will be from the 1st march next.

Position with respect to the cost of renewal: According to the president of the board of directors, Marc Denault, the card should have a life span of five or ten years, but it has still not been decided if a fee will be charged for the renewal.

Toronto Transit Commission

Card: PRESTO

Policy: customers must pay 6$ to get a card that has no expiration date.

TransLink (Vancouver)

Map: Compass

Policy: clients must give a deposit of$ 6 to get a card with a lifespan of 15 years. At any time, the deposit is refundable if the customer returns his card. At the time of renewal, a new deposit of$ 6 is required if the replacement is to be done online or if the card has been lost. No deposit is required if the replacement is done either in person or by mail, provided that the expired card to be returned.