【 TAIPEI TIMES 】 Purview of TaipeiCard benefits to be broadened
By Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter
TaipeiCard benefits are to be expanded this month with reward points given out at a range of government activities, the Taipei Department of Information Technology said yesterday.
The TaipeiCard was developed by the city’s Department of Health to help people keep better track of their health data, department health management division head Lin Li-ju (林莉茹) said.
People often forget information such as when they had their latest health check, she said, adding that this information cannot be checked by using the National Health Insurance card.
Lin said to encourage the use of the card a new function was introduced last year that allowed city residents to acquire reward points for participating in health department activities. For example, a breast scan is worth 150 points, she said, adding that these points can be directly converted into credit on EasyCards.
However, the TaipeiCard has attracted criticism from city councilors.
“Last year’s introduction of the new TaipeiCard was incredibly wasteful,” New Party Taipei City Councilor Pan Huai-tsung (潘懷宗) said.
The expansion in benefits announced yesterday would enable residents to claim discounts when participating in a range of activities sponsored by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs.
Pan said the discounts were for activities that lacked mass appeal. In addition, the process for converting reward points into credit on EasyCards is inconvenient, requiring residents to go to one of the city’s 12 district administration centers, he said.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/10/03/2003601171
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