The Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) has confirmed that funds for unused public transport trips at the previous fares are being gradually returned to passengers in the Kyiv Digital app. According to information reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing an official KCSA message on Telegram, all amounts are expected to be reflected in users' accounts by the end of the current week — by September 20, 2026. The refund covers trips that were paid for at the old prices but were never used after the fare schedule was changed.
How the refund mechanism works
The refund is processed automatically and in stages: passengers do not need to file repeat applications or contact support if the app is not yet showing the full amount due. The official position of the KCSA is that crediting is ongoing, and the remaining funds will arrive in the near future. Thus, the absence of the full amount on the screen in the first days after the refund began is considered a normal situation, not a system error.
Why the money may arrive in installments
The administration's message gives special attention to cases in which the transit card was topped up several times. In such a situation, the amount may be returned in parts: for example, if a user made three separate top-ups, the funds for unused trips from each top-up may be reflected in the wallet separately. This is why several refund transactions may appear sequentially in Kyiv Digital rather than a single combined one. Users are advised to wait for the process to complete before drawing conclusions about an incomplete credit.
Exactly how much will be returned to passengers
The app's wallet (My Wallet) is credited with the cost of the unused trips at the old fare, not at the current one. As an example, the KCSA provides the following calculation: if the transit card had 10 trips of 6.5 hryvnias each, then 65 hryvnias will be credited to the wallet. These funds can then be used to pay for travel at the current fares, meaning they do not expire and are not tied to the old prices when used later.
Context: a sharp rise in fares
The refund is taking place against the backdrop of a significant increase in the cost of travel in Kyiv. According to available data, from July 15 the cost of a trip on municipal transport — the metro, buses, trolleybuses, trams, and the funicular — rose 3.7 times, and a single trip now costs 30 hryvnias. Separately, from August 1, the fare on private marshrutkas (minibuses) increased to 25 hryvnias; the operators explained this step by rising fuel, parts, and maintenance costs, as well as a shortage of drivers. It was precisely the change in fares that left some previously paid trips "unused at the old prices" and required a mechanism to refund the difference.
Contradictory data
When comparing the figures from the official messages, there is an inconsistency in the assessment of the scale of the price increase. On the one hand, the KCSA and the media state that the fare on municipal transport rose 3.7 times to 30 hryvnias. On the other hand, in the same context the old fare is used as an example at 6.5 hryvnias per trip, and the move from 6.5 to 30 hryvnias arithmetically corresponds to an increase of about 4.6 times, not 3.7. This may mean that the 3.7 coefficient was calculated from a different base price (for example, an average or the fare of a specific type of transport), or that an inaccuracy was made in the public wording. The fact of the refund for unused trips at the old fares and the deadline of September 20, 2026, however, are not disputed and are confirmed by the KCSA message.
Thus, passengers whose full refund amount has not yet appeared in Kyiv Digital are advised to wait until September 20, 2026, and not to initiate repeat requests: the crediting is happening in stages and, according to the KCSA, will be completed by the stated deadline. The returned funds will land in My Wallet and can be used to pay for trips at the current fares.
