In January, the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture proposed scrapping free public transport on county line buses for pensioners and children. Minister Hendrik Terras (Eesti 200) said more money is needed to upgrade the lines. Coalition partner Reform criticised the change at the time.

Michal said: "We will not start charging a fee. I understand that in Estonia there are officials for whom it does not matter what politicians say. Let's try it this time and see who prevails. We have already discussed this issue publicly and I have said that there will be no charging children or pensioners."

Several other members of the prime minister's Reform Party posted their support for the continuation of free transport for these groups on social media.

Michal's statement follows comments Sigrid Soomlais, deputy secretary general for regional development at the Ministry of Climate, gave to media outlet Delfi backing the introduction of a fee. "It is a discounted ticket," she was quoted as saying in an article published on Wednesday.

Soomlais said the public transport reform aims to make the transport network more convenient and faster, but that this requires more money.

"We commissioned a survey and it showed that people are actually not opposed to paying a symbolic price if it helps improve the overall picture," she said. According to her, the symbolic price would be €5–€10 for a monthly pass.

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