By IRENE THAM

Drivers know it as the Nets CashCard, and it is still the trusty king of the road at automated carparks.

Its recent competitor, EZ-Link's ez-link card - touted as the prepaid card that does it all, including carpark payments - still cannot work at automated carparks.

The ez-link cards have been on sale since December 2008.

Nets CashCards have been around since 1996, and there are currently 6.5 million in use.

Nets is the Network for Electronic Transfers (Singapore), while the Land Transport Authority (LTA) owns EZ-Link.

The Sunday Times understands that the LTA has now dangled a subsidy carrot before carpark owners.

This is to help them upgrade their electronic parking system (EPS) so drivers can also use Cepas-compliant cards like ez-link cards to pay at the barrier gates.

Carpark owners have until June to let LTA know if they are seeking the subsidy.

Cepas, or Contactless e-Purse Application Standard, is a next-generation contactless payment system.

It supports multiple card issuers and Nets has its own version, the FlashPay card, introduced last October.

Cepas-compliant prepaid cards are intended for use as cashless payment for services from bus and train rides to retail purchases and Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) fees.

An LTA spokesman confirmed the June 1 deadline for carpark owners to indicate their intent to upgrade to a Cepas-compliant system, and said the subsidy was to "help defray the cost".

She did not reveal further details about the subsidy, but said the LTA will also provide "the equipment and effort required" to modify CashCard EPS to accept Cepas-compliant cards.

The Sunday Times understands that the cost of replacing the automated parking hardware and software comes up to more than S$10,000 per carpark.

Of the 1,800 Housing Board carparks islandwide, 119 are automated with EPS, while parking payment at most shopping malls here is also automated.

Analysts say it is understandable that carpark owners have dragged their feet over Cepas.

"What's in it for the carpark owners? They must cover the development and maintenance costs," said Associate Professor Anthony Chin of the National University of Singapore's economics department.

"If a subsidy for a period of time is the answer, then why not?"

Carpark operators and mall owners contacted said they are still in talks with the LTA and have little information on the upgrading works.

A spokesman for Marina Centre Holdings, which operates the Marina Square carpark, said: "We are waiting for the authorities to advise when such a system can be installed."

A CapitaMalls Asia spokesman said it was looking into upgrading.

Mr Ang Kin Yong, assistant vice-president of Ramky Cleantech Services - which manages 80 carparks, including for the HDB and National Parks Board - said it was in discussion with the LTA. Meanwhile, taxi driver Teo Beng Keng, 41, said he has four CashCards, which he uses for ERP deductions or carpark payments.

He tried using the ez-link card two months ago at an HDB carpark in Tampines, but it did not work.

His taxi driver friends faced the same problem and gave up.

"No need to use the ez-link card. CashCard works and that is enough," said Mr Teo.

itham@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The Straits Times.

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