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Lawyers in plea over transport card fund

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Public transport card deposits have become a huge topic on China's social media sites after three lawyers called for more transparent regulations regarding the deposits.

Lawyers in plea over transport card fund.[File photo]

The lawyers, from Jiangsu and Henan provinces and Beijing, sent a letter to the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council last week, urging the government to better regulate deposited money and disclose the whereabouts of the funds.

"The details of this fund have not been publicized despite repeated requests from citizens and members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which infringed on the public's right to know and undermined the credibility of urban transport sector," the lawyers wrote.

The transportation card was introduced on a large scale in 2006 in major cities including Shanghai and Beijing.

Data showed that the country had issued more than 180 million transport cards and the total deposits were estimated at between 1.8 billion yuan (US$285.71 million) and 5.4 billion yuan.

"The public has the right to know who is managing the deposit fund, how the money has been invested and how about the returns?" read one post on Sina Weibo.

"I strongly support the lawyers' move. As the deposit fund earns hefty interest each year, local governments should release the details of the fund in a timely manner," was another Weibo post.

"We will not give up until the government publicize the management of the card deposits," said Wang Yu, one of the three lawyers.