Veterans' Privilege Card can ride free of charge on public transport and light rail? Here comes the truth

The author | Army Road - Veteran

Recently, many micro-friends who pay attention to Junlu consulted Junlu, and the news about the online release of "Chongqing Veterans Preferential Treatment Certificate has begun to apply, and the license can take buses and light rail for free", mainly in two aspects:

On the one hand, it is to verify the authenticity of the news; on the other hand, I want to know whether since the veterans' preferential treatment card is uniformly styled and issued nationwide, whether it can enjoy free use of public transportation, light rail and other public transportation.

After inquiring about relevant authoritative information on the military road, Chongqing Municipality did make unified arrangements for deployment in accordance with the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, and last month it has seized the time to carry out business docking with cooperative banks, organize business training, upgrade and debug system equipment, and make relevant preparations for the application and issuance of preferential treatment certificates.

According to the "Notice of the Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Veterans' Affairs on the Application for Preferential Treatment Permits for Veterans and Other Preferential Care Recipients", it is clear: "It is planned to carry out the application work in a planned and step-by-step manner in mid-February 2022, and the specific time and relevant requirements will be notified separately." ”

There are no specific provisions for veterans to use public transportation such as public transportation and light rail for free.

As early as two years ago, the relevant departments of Chongqing Municipality promulgated the "Notice on Further Improving the Transportation Preferential Treatment of Active-Duty Military Personnel", which clearly states that from January 1, 2020, active-duty military personnel themselves can use public transportation in the nine districts of the main city for free with valid certificates issued by the troops, and clarify that other districts and counties (autonomous counties) will refer to it.

For free recipients, the required documents are valid documents for active military personnel and do not include retired military personnel. Moreover, it is understood that at present, the city has not issued relevant documents for veterans to take public transportation such as public transportation and light rail for free.

Junlu saw the post as stated, claiming to be "... It has been confirmed that the city bus and light rail can be taken free of charge", and according to the military road to the relevant functional departments of the city by telephone consultation, the clear answer is, "At present, only active military personnel can take buses and urban rail transit vehicles for free..."

It can be seen that the news that chongqing veterans enjoy free use of buses and urban rail public transportation after applying for a preferential treatment permit is not true.

There is no national answer as to whether veterans enjoy or do not enjoy public transportation such as free use of buses. For example, in the early days, the military road had statistics on the provinces and cities that launched free bus rides for veterans across the country, see "Cities where veterans ride free rides land, involving 13 provinces and autonomous regions".

For the above-mentioned cities that have implemented free bus rides for veterans, after the preparation and issuance of the veterans' preferential treatment card, they can also continue to enjoy the preferential treatment policy of free rides, but most cities are limited to veterans in their jurisdictions, not the national unified free ride.

For the group objects that are preferential for free use of public transportation, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs and other 20 departments jointly issued by the Ministry of Veterans Affairs [2020] No. 1 document, there are specific and clear specifications of free objects: active military personnel, disabled soldiers free of charge in the city buses, trams and rail transit vehicles. Such objects are free everywhere.

For veterans to enjoy preferential treatment in public transportation, according to Article 53 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Veterans, retired soldiers enjoy preferential treatment in public transportation, culture and tourism with valid documents such as veterans' preferential treatment certificates, and the specific measures shall be formulated by the provincial-level people's government.

It can be seen that whether veterans enjoy preferential treatment such as free bus rides, the authority is formulated by the provincial people's government. From the list of preferential treatment catalogues issued at the provincial level, some references can be made. Previously, Junlu also counted the list of provincial preferential directories published by some provinces, as detailed in the list of topic #Basic Preferential Directories.