Passengers will not be able to use Belgrade buses and trams without RSD 200! - Only daily tickets will be available

The Mayor of Belgrade, Aleksandar Sapic, presented a new technical solution for the public transport system. He stated that the city would unilaterally terminate the contract with Kentkart, and that the validator was "a lie".

The mayor announced that, in the future, the daily ticket will cost RSD 200, and the 90-minute ticket will be abolished.

- This is a new public transport system in Belgrade. Currently, the city is divided into 4 zones. There will be only two in the new system. In the current system, there is a ticket that is valid for 90 minutes and costs RSD 89. This card is being discontinued. There will be a daily ticket for the whole city and the price will be RSD 200. Paper tickets for a single ride are also being abolished - Sapic said.

Discussing the topic of the contract with Kentkart and the notorious validators, Sapic said:

- From the very start, this contract was harmful for the city of Belgrade and the entire system based on the validator, a system that cannot function properly and brings harm to the city and to passengers, because it did not improve public transport, but rather set it back. They failed to honor even such a contract.

He pointed out that the main problem in the functioning of public transport charging system is the lack of acceptance by the passengers.

The idea, he said, was for the City to take over ticket collection, and to find a way for the private partner to maintain the system it created.

However, that idea has also been scrapped.

- Various shortcomings, weaknesses and defects of the entire system began to emerge. In the last month and a half, we realized that we should not partake in such a system - said Sapic and added that all this will be shown in the coming period and during the the court proceedings.

The city will seek damages for the harmful contract and defend itself in court against claims for penalties, because the private partner did not comply with the contract.

As it was said at the conference, they should have reached an agreement and worked together.


Validator was "a lie"

- From 2012 to 2022, they owned all the data in the system - said Sapic and pointed out that, nevertheless, only 25% of people checked their tickets in the system. - Do you realize how much of a lie this is, a validator that only made life harder for passengers, and the information he sent was insignificant and served no purpose, because it included just 25 to 30% of all passengers.

The mayor said that he will ask the court for information and insight into how the "secret system", as he called it, worked.

- I wanted to point out how much of a fraud this is. For 13 years we have been forcing people to validate their cards, and we don't know how many people actually pay for transportation. We only know that the number dropped from 9 billion to 6 billion. It begs the question, what has all this been good for, during the past 13 years? For nothing.


What other cards will there be?

A weekly ticket will be introduced at a price of RSD 1,000, whereas the existing 3- and 5-day tickets will be abolished.

Monthly tickets will cost RSD 3,000 for one zone and RSD 3,500 for both zones. The annual ticket will cost RSD 30,000 for the first zone, or RSD 35,000 for both. The ticket will be available for purchase via SMS message, app, and at the PE "Transport Charges". Sales in vehicles, at newsagents, via the Internet and by payment card are being abolished.

- We are introducing a modern payment system through a free app - said Sapic.

Payment by SMS will be similar to parking fees. All students under the age of 19 will receive free transportation. This also applies to people over the age of 65, but they will not have to present a ticket and an annual supplement as before. They will apply through the app or receive a lifetime free ticket.


Controllers are also being abolished!

Sapic also said that the controllers will be abolished.

- The buses will be boarded by "the Whites", that is, the Communal Militia and will not stop the bus or other passengers. To a passenger without a ticket, they will simply hand over an order to pay for a special ticket. A passenger who receives such an order will not be ejected from the bus.

Grad Beograd

City of Belgrade

Aleksandar Sapic

all-day ticket

daily ticket

public transport

Busplus