Why some transport users in Germany still haven't benefited from the €9 ticket
Germany cut the price of public transport for passengers to just €9 in June, July and August. But many people who have subscription tickets have not yet received a refund for the three months.
The €9 ticket, which allowed passengers to use local public transport in Germany - including regional trains - during summer has been widely touted as a success story.
It was brought in to help ease the pressure on consumers facing rocketing energy prices and the rising cost of living.
According to the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV), 52 million tickets were sold between June and August. Meanwhile, more than 10 million people who already had transport cards – known as Abos in Germany – are meant to have received the discount automatically.
However, many loyal customers who have subscription tickets may have not yet benefited from the campaign.
This is the case for some passengers with yearly tickets in the Berlin and Brandenburg area.
A spokesman from Berlin's BVG said that customers with a yearly Abo subscription would receive their refund now that the three-month campaign was over, but that it would take some time.
"This decision (to refund after the campaign ended) was made by all transport operators within the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB) for technical reasons - otherwise, things would have gotten extremely complicated in case e.g. someone ended his or her Abo within the three months," the spokesman told The Local.
"The refunds have started. However, due to the number of customers with a yearly Abo (around 125.000 at the BVG alone) they cannot be sent out on a single day. They are to be completed by the end of September."
The amount that people will be refunded depends on the subscription and which fare zones are included.
It comes as Berlin is proposing a regional €29 regional ticket from October, ahead of the plans for a new nationwide follow-up to the €9 offer.
The details on the Berlin (and possibly Brandenburg) ticket are still being thrashed out, so it is unclear how it will affect subscribers.
READ ALSO:
- Berlin pushes for €29 regional ticket
- What we know so far about the successor to Germany's €9 ticket
For an idea of what's going on in other large transport authorities, the Local asked the transit authority for the city of Munich (The Münchner Verkehrs und Tarifverbund or MVV) if they had refunded subscribers.
A spokeswoman told us: "The approximately 470,000 subscriptions (including holders of the 365-euro ticket for students and trainees) in the MVV area were automatically converted into €9 tickets.
"Only holders of semester tickets had to contact the transport company (Deutsche Bahn/DB or Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft/MVG) where they bought their ticket for a refund."
What should I do if I haven't received a refund?
Depending on where you live and the type of ticket you have, you may not yet have benefited from the €9 ticket offer. The first thing to do is to check the website of your local transport company to see if there is information.
Although many firms are offering automatic refunds to subscription ticket customers, some may require people to take action themselves.
If you have any questions or doubts, you should contact the company or visit a travel hub to ask a member of staff what you should do.
READ ALSO: 5 things to know about public transport in Germany after the €9 ticket
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The €9 ticket, which allowed passengers to use local public transport in Germany - including regional trains - during summer has been widely touted as a success story.
It was brought in to help ease the pressure on consumers facing rocketing energy prices and the rising cost of living.
According to the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV), 52 million tickets were sold between June and August. Meanwhile, more than 10 million people who already had transport cards – known as Abos in Germany – are meant to have received the discount automatically.
However, many loyal customers who have subscription tickets may have not yet benefited from the campaign.
This is the case for some passengers with yearly tickets in the Berlin and Brandenburg area.
A spokesman from Berlin's BVG said that customers with a yearly Abo subscription would receive their refund now that the three-month campaign was over, but that it would take some time.
"This decision (to refund after the campaign ended) was made by all transport operators within the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB) for technical reasons - otherwise, things would have gotten extremely complicated in case e.g. someone ended his or her Abo within the three months," the spokesman told The Local.
"The refunds have started. However, due to the number of customers with a yearly Abo (around 125.000 at the BVG alone) they cannot be sent out on a single day. They are to be completed by the end of September."
The amount that people will be refunded depends on the subscription and which fare zones are included.
It comes as Berlin is proposing a regional €29 regional ticket from October, ahead of the plans for a new nationwide follow-up to the €9 offer.
The details on the Berlin (and possibly Brandenburg) ticket are still being thrashed out, so it is unclear how it will affect subscribers.
READ ALSO:
- Berlin pushes for €29 regional ticket
- What we know so far about the successor to Germany's €9 ticket
For an idea of what's going on in other large transport authorities, the Local asked the transit authority for the city of Munich (The Münchner Verkehrs und Tarifverbund or MVV) if they had refunded subscribers.
A spokeswoman told us: "The approximately 470,000 subscriptions (including holders of the 365-euro ticket for students and trainees) in the MVV area were automatically converted into €9 tickets.
"Only holders of semester tickets had to contact the transport company (Deutsche Bahn/DB or Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft/MVG) where they bought their ticket for a refund."
What should I do if I haven't received a refund?
Depending on where you live and the type of ticket you have, you may not yet have benefited from the €9 ticket offer. The first thing to do is to check the website of your local transport company to see if there is information.
Although many firms are offering automatic refunds to subscription ticket customers, some may require people to take action themselves.
If you have any questions or doubts, you should contact the company or visit a travel hub to ask a member of staff what you should do.
READ ALSO: 5 things to know about public transport in Germany after the €9 ticket
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