The ubiquitous R-kioski chain has begun to charge a service fee for Helsinki local transport tickets sold at its stores.
As of 1 January, the company started charging a 3.5 percent service charge to top-up a travel card with a monthly ticket.
Adding credit to a stored-value ticket will cost a euro each time a customer does so, while single tickets will set passengers back an extra 20 cents or 40 cents each time, depending on the cost of the ticket.
The yellow and blue-branded retailer says it started charging the fees because HSL, the regional transport authority, no longer pays a commission on tickets sold by third parties.
The R-kioski fees can be avoided by buying tickets from HSL service points, via the HSL app, or using ticket machines.
HSL is a co-operative venture by nine municipalities in the Helsinki region that is responsible for public transport services throughout the area. It does not own rolling stock itself but instead uses third-party contractors to operate services.