Kobe City announces overcharge of Japan Tourist|While many municipalities do not disclose refunds

Kobe City announced that the Japan Tourist Kobe Branch had overcharged in the operation of the local industry support coupon project "Kobe Brand Ale Coupon" implemented in FY2022.

「 Kobe Brand Ale Coupons Kobe City used the national government's regional revitalization grant to sign a business contract with Japan Tourist for about 390 million yen. The content of the work includes recruiting businesses, building a coupon ticketing system, and operating a call center. However, due to the decrease in business, Kinzu should have been charged the amount after deducting the difference, but was overcharged by about 8.4 million yen. The breakdown is about 4.8 million yen for call center operations and about 3.6 million yen for others. "The call center was handled by a group company" (KNT-CT Holdings).

The discovery of the overcharge was made in June of this year by Kinzu, who made a complaint to Kobe City. Kinzu is conducting a company-wide inspection after announcing the overbilling of the coronavirus vaccine business in Higashiosaka City in April. In addition, Kobe City will announce the overcharge and request a refund, and will not file a criminal complaint.

Traditionally, municipalities that have received refunds due to overbilling for the coronavirus vaccine project in the near future tend not to make a public announcement. "The local government has requested that the government refrain from making the announcement (KNT-CT Holdings), and as a result, there are areas where citizens are not informed.
The Kobe City Economy, Tourism and Fashion Industry Division explained, "It was agreed within the department that the overcharge was true and that there was no need to refrain from disclosing it even if it was refunded."