Endless waits on buses and metro will finally have a price. Atac has decided to recognize a refund for every time the wait exceeds a quarter of an hour, after the closure of the Antitrust proceeding which accused the company of not having respected the minimum levels of service quality between 2021 and 2023 and of never having compensated users for the inconvenience.
To close the matter, the company will pay a total of 3 million euros to annual subscribers active at least one day in 2024. Those who have an annual Metrebus subscription will receive 5 euros, which become 10 for those who are also subscribers in at least one of the years from 2021 to 2023.
Alongside this one-off compensation, Atac introduces a new reimbursement mechanism via app: every delay of more than 15 minutes will give the right to 50 cents to be used in the digital purse to purchase new travel tickets, even for other people.
At the same time, the company is trying to address structural problems: new hires, more information for passengers and investments in vehicles and infrastructure. General director Paolo Aielli speaks of a process already underway, with the first visible results thanks to the new buses and, soon, the trams and the new app which will also integrate the management of refunds.
In essence, after years of disservices and the intervention of the Antitrust, Atac is trying to change pace: a few euros of compensation does not erase the interminable waits, but at least introduces a mechanism that officially recognizes the time wasted by users. Now the real test will be to see if, in addition to refunds, a service will finally arrive that works without turning every trip into a lottery.
