Call to curb misuse of seniors card on Metro

Police are calling for greater coordination between departments in an effort to curb the misuse of senior citizens cards in public transport.

Local Metro police said they had blacklisted 1,013 commuters for using somebody else's senior citizens cards between July and November.

These commuters face having a black mark on their personal credit records, meaning it would be more difficult for them to get bank loans, low-cost housing and other services.

Police had seized a total of 2,650 seniors cards but only 931 seniors came back to reclaim them.

Officials said this was because the procedures for reapplying for a new card are easy.

"Many seniors prefer to make a new application rather than try and get back their cards," a Metro official said.

Metro police now want a common platform between all the departments to share the senior citizen card information and some sort of penalty for its deliberate misuse.