Suspicious Revenue Collection Management Contract raises Red Flags at Metro Mass & STC

Some aggrieved workers at Intercity STC Coaches Limited (STC) and Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMTL) are raising red flags over the revenue collection management contractual agreement with ‘Tap n’ Go Ghana Company’. They have described the contract as a totally useless one and a complete waste of resources.

Tap and go service is a digital platform for multiple public transport services, including a digital card pre-loaded with cash, which can be used to pay for transport fares by tapping the card on a fixed machine on a bus.

The two state transport service providing companies – STC and MMTL have entered into a contractual agreement with Tap n’ Go Ghana to provide tap and go services – a pioneering digital platform, aimed at revolutionizing public transport service by simplifying passenger experience while ensuring safety and security.

Each bus has been equipped with a comprehensive manifest system to capture passenger details, enhance security and enable swift response to emergencies. Additionally, state-of-the-art cameras have also been fixed to further bolster security; provide real-time monitoring and response capabilities, among others.

Workers of the Two companies are however worried over the contract after claiming to have done their own assessments of its implementation. Their view is that the contract is rather making the two companies to unnecessary spend their limited resources to pay the service provider. “Rather than helping the company to make money, Tap n’ Go Ghana is rather taking money away from STC and MMTL,” one of the aggrieved staff stated.

The workers say they do not understand why the money being collected digitally from passengers by Tap n’ Go Ghana do not go directly into the accounts of both companies. They make the case the contract is very questionable and must be probed.

“The is even no accountability on how the money is paid into the accounts of STC and MMTL by Tap n’ Go, and this is very worrying. We believe the government is being shortchanged,” they stated.

They make the claim that revenue collected through the digital payment made by passengers before boarding the buses first go to the Tap n’ Go company, and that, it is not even clear the percentage Tap n’ Go Ghana pays back to the two companies.

The workers of the Metro Mass Transit Limited have noted that at first, their outfit was single-handedly issuing the tickets to passengers on board their buses after they made payments, the money then come directly into the accounts of the company and not through any third party, but in this new situation Tap n’ Go Ghana takes the money before remitting a percentage to MMTL.

“Now, when the payments are done by the passengers through the digital system, it goes straight to Tap n’ Go Ghana. We don’t even know how much money the Tap n’ Go Ghana company actually releases to our company.

“Our company [Metro Mass Transit Limited] is still struggling to survive, but the management has brought out this tap and go service, a pioneering digital platform. We are calling on the management of Metro Mass Transit Limited to immediately tell us or the public how much the Tap n’ Go Ghana  company is charging for providing this digital service to Metro Mass Transit Limited.

“We are saying that it is high time, management of the company discloses to the public the various terms and conditions in the revenue collection management contractual agreement with Tap n’ Go,” they stated in agitation.

“We are also demanding to know who owns Tap n’ Go Company, because, when we thoroughly checked, we could not see or identify who the rightful owners of the company are. How much money is Tap n’ Go Ghana paying to our company – Metro Mass Transit Limited, we state must know.

The workers of Metro Mass Transit Limited say when their company was directly responsible for the issuing of the metro-cards to commuters “we were getting the revenue directly into the accounts of the company.”

They complained bitterly that ever since Tap n’ Go Ghana was contracted as a third party to collect the revenue through its digital payment platform, Metro Mass Transit has been struggling to break even or regularly pay monthly salaries of its workers.

When Metro Mass was handling its own revenue, we only go to UBA to buy the cards and issue to commuters on board the buses.

“We believe strongly that this system was helping the company because we were doing everything ourselves without paying money to any third party company. But now the management has gone to outsource, and we don’t know how much percentage it is collecting for rendering this service to the company, revenue is going to the wrong hands,” the aggrieved workers alleged.

Source: The SPYder News Hounds