"Be Careful When Exiting the Subway Starting Tomorrow"... Risk of Additional Fare If You Make a Mistake

Implementation of "Subway Exit Untagged Penalty"
Preventing Fare Evasion Tactics to Avoid Additional Distance-Based Charges

Starting from March 7, if passengers do not tag their transportation card when exiting the subway, an additional basic fare will be charged. This measure is intended to prevent fare evasion, where passengers avoid paying distance-based additional fares by not tagging out when leaving the subway.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on March 6, during the period from January to November of last year, there were an average of about 8,000 daily cases of passengers failing to tag out when exiting subway sections operated by Seoul Metro.

Starting from the 7th, if you do not tag your transportation card when exiting the subway, an additional basic fare will be charged. The photo shows the ticket gates at a subway station in Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Since the introduction of the integrated transfer fare system in the Seoul metropolitan area in 2004, passengers who did not tag out were subject to a penalty, meaning they could not receive transfer discounts between buses and subways. However, there was no penalty for failing to tag out when using only urban railway sections.

The company determined that this could lead to fairness issues with citizens who pay their fares properly, so it persuaded metropolitan urban railway operators and revised the passenger transport terms and conditions.

With the introduction of this new system, transportation cards that are not tagged upon exit will be recorded in the system, and when used again for boarding, the basic fare will be automatically charged. This applies to both prepaid and postpaid transportation cards, but does not apply to commuter passes, single-use cards, or special discount cards. The additional basic fare will be charged according to the card type: 1,550 won for adults, 900 won for teenagers, and 550 won for children.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will operate an emergency situation room to ensure the proper operation of the 'Penalty for Not Tagging Out When Exiting the Subway' system. It will verify the correct collection of single and transfer fares between metropolitan buses and subways, and will respond immediately on site in case of any system malfunctions. Until the end of this month, the company will focus on promoting the new system through joint campaigns with metropolitan railway operators at major transfer stations such as Seoul Station and Hongik University Station.

The company emphasized that "this is not a measure to impose a new burden, but rather to prevent intentional avoidance of distance-based additional fares by not tagging out and to address the institutional gap that existed when using only urban railway sections."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.