Abuse of NAC Student Standby Scheme

by Peter Franks

Thoughtless and stupid behaviour by a very small minority of students and others may put the valuable student standby concession for domestic air travel in jeopardy, if such behaviour continues.

This point was made to me by officials of the National Airways Corporation and the Student Travel Bureau Ltd when I interviewed them about the operation of the 50% fare concession offered by NAC to full-time tertiary students who posses a valid International Student Identity Card [ISIC].

"Those who try to buck the system by tampering with their ISIC cards, 'lending' them to people who are not eligible for the concession and other forms of abuse are an administrative irritant", says David Cuth-bert, Managing Director of STB Ltd. "Their activities cause extra work for NAC and ourselves, as well as marring the success of the whole scheme".

Cuthbert's claim that the student standby scheme — first introduced for university students in 1972 — has been a success is borne out by the facts. Over the last twelve months students took some 60,000 individual journeys on NAC flights using the 50% fare concession.

Greater awareness by students of the benefits the scheme provides and the damage that can be caused by those who abuse it is one way of tackling the problem.

But it is by no means the only way. As a result of recent discussions between NAC and STB Ltd, various administrative measures have been implemented by both parties to further safeguard the security of the student standby fare concession. The officials I talked to are quietly confident that these measures will both prevent attempts to abuse the scheme and better detect those who manage to do so.

Individuals who are tempted to buck the system also need to bear in mind the fact that abuse of the student standby fare concession can lead to criminal prosecution of the offenders. Most irregularities detected are now automatically referred to the Criminal Investigation Branch of the Police for investigation. Criminal prosecutions can, in most cases, be initiated on grounds of fraud, false pretences or forgery.

And apart from running the risk of criminal prosecution, all students who are implicated in any abuse of the student standby scheme have their ISIC card black listed or confiscated, thereby losing all the student concession privileges it allows.