By Yuan Yue, Sina English
A newly-married couple has been detained for helping migrant workers purchase train tickets and charge each ticket 10 yuan in Foshan, south China’s Guangdong Province.
They were captured on the afternoon of Jan 13 in their shop, as police discovered 212 train tickets, with a total face value of 35,402 yuan (around US$5,700), and 213 ID cards.
The reporter learned that the couple, with the husband surnamed Zhong and wife surnamed Ye, were purchasing train tickets during the “Spring Festival Travel Rush” for migrant workers, most of whom don’t know how to buy tickets online due to poor education background. They charge 10 yuan for each ticket.
Spring Festival Travel Rush, also known as Chunyun in Chinese, is considered to be the largest annual emigration in China, when the tickets are usually tight. The tickets found in the couple’s shop, mainly seats and standing ones, have been returned to the buyers.
The couple first started the business in November last year by using the ID card provided by their clients, as the real-name ticket policy began from early 2012 requires traveler to show the train ticket and ID card at the same time, in a bid to fight scalpers.
The couple are about to spend their Spring Festival in the detention center.
“I don’t think 10 yuan is too much”, a migrant worker surnamed Zhang felt sorry for them, “compared with scalpers in the past, who would charge an extra 100 yuan for each ticket, they are much better.”
Another migrant worker surnamed Liu said he doesn’t even know whom to turn to now they are arrested.
“We don’t have time to purchase tickets online, but there is no official train ticket booth near our company.”
Dai Guoliang is a lawyer who works in the city. While admitting the couple was indeed offering help for migrant workers, he believes they should not challenge the law.
“The law regulates that one should face criminal punishment if scalping train tickets or selling them for profit, as long as the face value of tickets exceeds 5,000 yuan or the profit exceeds 2,000 yuan.” said Dai. “They will have to pay for their conducts.”
