Over 100 island cards reported for unauthorized use

The law which was declared in December 2019, states that Agency for Coastal Traffic (cro. Agencija za obalni linijski pomorski promet) has an authority to control the use of island cards. Croatian citizens who live on Croatian islands can use these cards to buy cheaper ferry tickets. The existing Agency system also allows it to get notifications about possible misuses of the cards. The usual cases of misuse are related to buying multiple ferry tickets with the same island card. In this case, the tickets were used either twice on the same ferry route, or at the same time on two different routes.

Another example of the misuse would be using island cards to buy vehicle tickets for vehicles or persons who do not exercise rights for it. This is why Croatian ferry companies are doing better and thorough control of the use of island cards. They report these cases to the Agency each day. After determining the misuse of the card, the users get a written note to their addresses, so the Agency can establish what really happened. Additionally, an amenable Ministry also gets notified. If it’s determined that a user misused an island card, then the card gets deactivated for 6 months. If the same thing happens again, the person is banned for using the card permanently.

So far, 110 island cards are being processed as being misused by customers. In most cases, people are buying ferry tickets for others who don’t have the right to get a discount. Majority of these cases so far happened in Split and Zadar counties, so additional human resources were activated by ferry carriers. The Agency will continue to cooperate with companies, and they expect this number of 110 to be lower in the future. They emphasize that only the owner of the island card can use it. Each person using the card needs to show it to the ferry crew when boarding. Also, a card needs to be with you during the duration of the trip.

Source: Glas Otoka