Mayor: Prague to take over running of Opencard from current operator

Prague plans to take over operation of the Opencard electronic card system from the middle of this month, Mayor Tomáš Hudeček told the Czech News Agency. City Hall has been locked in a dispute with the company eMoneyServices over the figures quoted by the latter for extending a service contract for the Opencard, which is used for public transport and other services. Mr. Hudeček said Prague would begin operating the Opencard itself once its current contracts end with eMoneyServices; it holds the copyright on the system but could not be contacted by the Czech News Agency on Thursday. The Opencard cost CZK 1.35 billion to implement and has been mired in controversy.

Author: Ian Willoughby