Electronic Passenger Check-in
Dopravní podnik města Brna, a. s. has implemented a system of electronic fare collection (elektronické odbavování cestujících, or EOC) using contactless bank cards.
Using contactless bank cards for prepaid ticketing is an entirely unique payment method chosen by DPMB, a. s. for several reasons:
- Passengers can use a bank card they use every day (the Czech Republic leads Europe by a wide margin in the use of contactless bank cards)
- Upon verifying their personal information, or eligibility for discount, passengers make their purchase via an e-shop and need not visit prepayment locations in person
- The system is secure, fulfilling the strict conditions of banking standards
- The system will be gradually expanded throughout the South Moravian Integrated Public Transport System (Integrovaný dopravní systém jihomoravského kraje, or IDS JMK).
Currently this system can be used to purchase the following:
- Non-transferrable prepaid tickets for tariff zones 100 and 101 for the passenger categories of standard fare, children, student, and seniors up to 70 years of age.
- Annual transferrable tickets
- New transferrable prepaid tickets with 2-30 day validity.
Sale of ordinary paper prepaid tickets will continue for the time being without restrictions on the selection and number of sales locations.
Operating principles of prepaid electronic tickets
The card operates strictly as a customer identifier; nothing is recorded to the card. All information about the passenger is saved in databases. The card number is not used by the system. It is solely used for "tokening", which is a method of protecting sensitive payment data against misuse.
Registration and purchase of electronic prepaid tickets
The e-shop is available at www.brnopas.cz, and can also be accessed from the DPMB website (www.dpmb.cz), the Kordis website (www.idsjmk.cz), and the website of the City of Brno (www.brno.cz). DPMB operates an information center at Novobranská 18 that can inform customers and assist them with registering and setting up their account.
Step 1 - Registration
Customers should enter the following data into the registration form:
- Required personal information and unique email address
- Selected carrier, i.e. any contactless bank card which will then be used for verification in the transit vehicle
- A photo recorded into the system, if the passenger will be using a non-transferrable ticket.
Customers who do not have a bank card or who do not wish to use their bank card for this purpose may use anonymous cards sold at DPMB sales desks.
Step 2 - Ticket purchase
Purchase of standard fare annual, quarterly, and monthly tickets
- select the carrier (card)
- purchase the selected prepaid ticket
- verify personal data within 21 days by stopping at any sales desk in all DPMB locations
Purchase of discounted annual, quarterly, and monthly tickets
- after registering the customer must demonstrate eligibility for the discount (along with verifying personal data at a DPMB sales desk)
- ticket purchase can then be completed in the application following verification and demonstration of eligibility for discount
Payment methods:
- online payment with bank card (in any manner without connection to the carrier)
- using a bank button
Ticket inspection
DPMB inspectors will use a reading device that has been certified and does not allow any payments or access to saved data or transactions by the inspectors. Inspection will take place simply by pressing the customer card to the reading device. Customers need only present their cards (by applying the cards to the reading device themselves), and will not be required to "hand them over" or even to remove them from their case. Upon request DPMB can provide EOC customers with cases for their cards. For passengers using Czech Railways trains or regional IDS JMK buses for travel in zones 100 and 101, the application will print a QR code containing ticketing information for presentation to train conductors or regional bus drivers.
Changing cards
In the event of the loss, theft, or expiration of the bank card used as a prepaid carrier, passengers can easily select a new carrier from their account. There is no need to visit any location in person and the use of prepaid tickets will continue without restriction.
Fare refunds
Customers no longer wishing to use their prepaid electronic ticket may request a refund of their fare payments at any information center location. The amount of the unused fare payment will be calculated according to the rules listed in Article 4 of the Contractual Transportation Conditions of IDS JMK and will be refunded to the account of the customer's choice.
Combining with paper tickets
In the first phase starting January 2017, electronic tickets can be purchased only for tariff zones 100 and 101. Primarily for customers wishing to take advantage of the rebate for annual prepaid standard fare tickets for tariff zones 100 and 101 who travel to other tariff zones within the IDS JMK, the option exists to purchase an electronic ticket for zones 100 and 101 and use a paper prepaid ticket for the remaining tariff zones. From 1 January 2017 the option for additional purchase of a prepaid ticket to one tariff zones will be available. When combining electronic tickets for zones 100 and 101 with paper one-off tickets, the process currently in use shall apply (see Article III, paragraph 21, IDS JMK Tariff).
Annual tramcard rebate
The City Council of Brno has approved the implementation of a new subsidy program to support the purchase of standard fare non-transferrable city transit tickets for zones 100 and 101.
Passengers purchasing an annual prepaid standard fare non-transferrable ticket for zones 100 and 101 will be able to use an electronic form to request the rebate as part of the new subsidy program supporting the purchase of electronic standard fare non-transferrable city transit tickets for zones 100 and 101 (see below) immediately upon paying the full price of the ticket and verifying their account in the e-shop.
Rebate amount
The amount of the approved rebate has been set CZK 1,425, which amounts to 30% of the current cost of a standard fare annual non-transferrable prepaid city transit ticket for zones 100 and 101 (CZK 4,750). This amount will be transferred to the account listed in the request once the fulfillment of all conditions of the incentive program have been confirmed.
Who is eligible for the rebate
Anyone may request a rebate provided he or she is a payor of local fees for communal waste management in Brno, has not been released from payment of these fees, and does not have any outstanding debt for these fees as of the date of submitting the request or the date of the decision to award the rebate.
What type of ticket is eligible for the rebate
The rebate will be provided for the purchase of standard fare non-transferrable annual prepaid tickets for zones 100 and 101 for CZK 4,750 purchased in electronic form in the newly established e-shop using the Prepaid ticket ("Předplatní jízdenka") module.
How to request your rebate
As with the purchase of tickets, the request for a rebate may be completed completely online from the newly established e-shop along with the purchase of a non-transferrable prepaid standard fare ticket for CZK 4,750. The electronically submitted form (from a verified customer account) will be verified by the main office, the awarding of the rebate will be confirmed, and the rebate will be transferred to the account listed by the requestor.
Discounted tariffs for children, parents, and seniors will remain in effect
- Seniors over the age of 70 shall continue to ride in tariff zones 100 and 101 free of charge
- Pensioners of less than 70 years of age will retain the existing discounted annual fare of CZK 2,950
- Persons accompanying children up to 3 years old shall continue to ride free of charge
- The best offer for students remains the existing discounted annual ticket for CZK 2,375
- New: From 1 January 2017, all children up to 10 years of age can ride free of charge in tariff zones 100 and 101.
1. Who is the new payment method for?
In the first phase this system will be intended for the category of non-discounted standard fare passengers, for the discounted categories of children and students, and for seniors up to 70 years of age. With this system it is also possible to purchase transferrable annual tickets and new transferrable prepaid tickets valid for 2-30 calendar days.
2. What are the advantages of the new method of payment?
Now new card is necessary. Passengers may use the contactless bank cards they already have. Lines at ticket counters for purchasing coupons will drop. In the event of loss or theft of the card, it can be blocked and a new card registered as the carrier of the prepaid ticket.
3. What tickets can I purchase in the system?
The following tickets for zones 100 and 101 may be purchased in the e-shop: standard fare, children, students, and seniors up to 70 years of age, annual transferrable tickets, new transferrable prepaid tickets with validity of 2-30 calendar days. For now the changes will not apply to passengers older than 70 years, who present a coupon allowing them to ride free of charge. This coupon will continue to be used in paper form.
4. How do I register in the new system?
The first step is to create an account in the e-shop (with a valid e-mail and password). Next, enter the basic personal information necessary for the issue of the tramcard into the system, upload a photo (a color portrait photo that resembles you) and specify the carrier of the tramcard (registration using the number of the payment card and expiration date). Select tickets and purchase tickets using online bank card or electronic banking. From that time the passenger may fully manage his or her tickets from the e-shop.
5. How is discount eligibility demonstrated?
For the discount categories (students and pensioners up to 70 years of age), tickets can be purchased only after verifying discount eligibility at a sales desk or DPMB contact location. Verification takes place once per year for students and disability pensioners, when the employee at the sales desk verifies the customer's eligibility for the discount in the e-shop. For pensioners up to 70 years of age, only initial verification is necessary.
6. Is the system secure?
The system is secured using technology at the level of banking standards. No one other than a certified payment portal has access to data vulnerable to misuse (card number, expiration date, and verification code). The card number is encrypted into a coded number called the TOKEN, which cannot be used for payment. The transit company works only with the TOKEN, personal details for non-transferrable tramcards, and in some cases records data necessary for verifying discount eligibility.
7. Can a payment card with contactless services blocked also be used for this system?
Most contactless bank cards enable the blocking of contactless payment services and the card thereafter works solely as a contact card, but a card thus blocked will still function as a carrier for prepaid tickets since this transaction does not involve payment. Nonetheless, for certain contactless cards this option is limited. For this reason we recommend using contactless bank cards with unblocked contactless payment functionality.
8. What should I do if I don't have a bank card and I want to pay using the new method?
The system is ready for these cases as well, and DPMB offers the option of purchasing anonymous contactless payment cards. All the passenger needs is an email account to which identification is linked. For actual payment of electronic coupons in the e-shop, however, an online banking card or electronic banking (bank button) will be necessary.
9. What is a "bank button"?
This is actually a transfer from account to account, which can be used as part of rapid payment portals by clicking on the button of the bank where you have your account. When you click on your bank's button you are rerouted to internet banking; after signing in you will find the data already entered and you simply confirm payment. This secure payment method is guaranteed by the bank and no one else gains access to your data.
10. What should I do if I don't have internet access and I wish to pay using the new method?
There is a contact center located at the registered offices of Dopravní podnik města Brna on Novobranská Street where our staff help passengers with the creation and management of online accounts.
11. Do I have to buy my tramcard using this new method?
The transit company will not force anyone to adopt this new feature, and purchase in the e-shop will be strictly voluntary. Passengers may continue to use paper tickets. Sale of standard paper prepaid tickets will continue without any restrictions on the selection and number of sales locations.
12. My annual tramcard is expiring and I want to buy a tramcard in the new system. How do I proceed?
This is a very frequent question, primarily from customers who wish to take advantage of the rebate in the amount of CZK 1,425 for the purchase of the annual prepaid non-transferrable standard fare tickets as part of the incentive program approved by the City Council of Brno. 30 days prior to the expiration of your paper ticket you can visit www.brnopas.cz and purchase an electronic ticket via the e-shop, then request your rebate according to the instructions.
13. Is it possible to use "bank stickers" offered by most banks?
Yes, bank stickers are considered the ideal carrier for your electronic ticket. Upon registering, however, you must know the entire 16-digit card number (you will receive this upon receipt of your sticker from the bank, whereas only the last four digits are visible on the sticker itself).
14. Is it possible to set up an account in the e-shop for my children as well, who don't have an account?
We are currently working on this functionality. The system will enable the sharing of accounts. A typical example is indeed the parent who wishes to open accounts for his or her children and yet will control these accounts. This means that he or she will purchase the coupons and keep track of them. At the moment the children come of age, it will be possible to terminate sharing and allow them to manage their accounts independently.
15. I don't have the option of printing a QR code
We will be happy to print one for you at any DPMB contact location.