A too expensive transportation card

internet - Where are the 450 million Rmb?

About a week ago there was suddenly one of those internet row popping up, here neatly summerized by Shanghaiist. After a Beijing university student filed a lawsuit about the costs of his transportation card, 20 rmb, the Shanghainese woke up. They are paying 30 rmb for a card that initially was introduced for the subway, but can now be used for all modes of public transportation, including most taxis.
Shanghai has 15 million cards - including two of mine I lost, pushing a neat 450 renminbi into the system. Where has that money gone, people are now asking, including a Consumer Rights group.
The debate is now spilling over into the traditional media, and and the Shanghai Public Transportation Card company has said they use high-end equipment for scanning, so have higher cost than other Chinese cities. It is not yet over.