Taiwan Railways Ticket Sales Bonus Unclaimed for 5 Years; Union Calls for Inclusion of Electronic Ticket Points

(Central News Agency, reporters Wu Xinyun and Huang Qiaowen, Taipei, June 3) The Taiwan Railways Labor Union stated today that the ticket sales performance bonus system set up by Taiwan Railways has gone unclaimed for the past five years. The union urged the Taiwan Railways Corporation to promptly review the bonus system and include electronic ticket services in the point calculation.

The Taiwan Railways Labor Union issued a statement noting that to incentivize ticket-selling staff, Taiwan Railways had established a "Ticket Sales Performance Assessment Bonus System." This system calculated points quarterly based on individual and station rankings according to station grade, offering bonuses ranging from NT$1,000 to NT$4,000 to top-ranked employees to maintain morale.

However, the union pointed out that with the rise of electronic ticketing and the decline in paper ticket sales, Taiwan Railways has failed to update the system accordingly. It was not revised even during the comprehensive regulatory review that accompanied the corporation's restructuring. Data provided by the Taiwan Railways Corporation shows that over the past five years, none of the thousands of ticket sellers across the system, who sell hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars worth of tickets monthly, have received the bonus.

The union identified two major problems with the current bonus system: First, it completely fails to account for labor related to electronic ticket services, such as TPASS purchases and top-ups, and electronic ticket top-ups. Employees who increase services in line with government policies receive no incentive. Second, the bonus standard remains primarily based on paper ticket sales, meaning an employee who sells nearly NT$3 million in tickets in a single month can still end up with a zero score.

The union called on the Taiwan Railways Corporation to promptly review the ticket sales bonus system, include electronic ticket services in the point calculation, and revise the bonus standards.

As of the time of reporting, Taiwan Railways had not responded to requests for comment. (Editor: Chen Qingfang) 1150603