Oyster card fraud
Request ID: FOI-0335-1920
Date published: 15 May 2019
You asked
Dear Transport for London,
I would like to request the following information please:
1. The number of Oyster Zip cards that have been stopped due to suspected fraudulent use in each of the past five years, and the year to date.
2. The number of fines issued and the amount raised relating to fraudulent use of Oyster Zip in each of the past five years, and the year to date.
3. The number of prosecutions and sought by TFL and the number of successful prosecutions ought fines issued relating to fraudulent use of Oyster Zip in each of the past five years, and the year to date.
4. The number of 60+ Oyster cards that have been stopped due to suspected fraudulent use in each of the past five years, and the year to date.
5. The number of fines issued and the amount raised relating to fraudulent use of 60+ Oyster in each of the past five years, and the year to date.
6. The number of prosecutions and sought by TFL and the number of successful prosecutions ought fines issued relating to fraudulent use of 60+ Oyster in each of the past five years, and the year to date.
7. TFL’s policy for dealing with suspected fraudulent of Oyster Zip cards and cards for over 60s.
8. The number of other Oyster cards (not Zip or 60+) that have been stopped due to suspected fraudulent use in each of the past five years, and the year to date broken down by reason for their being stopped.
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-0335-1920
Thank you for your request received on 1 May 2019 asking for information about Oyster card fraud.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you require.
The Conditions of Carriage and the Prosecution Policy can be found on our website:
http://content.tfl.gov.uk/revenue-enforcement-and-prosecution-policy.pdf
In accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible to you elsewhere.
No vulnerable passenger are left stranded as inspectors have procedures to cover this eventuality.
In order to provide the remaining information you have requested would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with a request if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described.
We have estimated that it would cost over £450 to provide a response to your current request. This is because it is estimated that it would take in excess of 18 working hours to retrieve and compile the information you have requested. Our reporting system does not allow us to filter the recorded data by pass type. In order to provide the information we would need to manually review each case over the last five years to extract the requested data.
To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider narrowing its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. If you want to refine your request or make a Freedom of Information Act request in future, please bear in mind that the Freedom of Information Act allows you to request recorded information held by Transport for London. You should identify the information that you want as clearly and concisely as you can, specifying the types of document that you are looking for. You might also consider limiting your request to a particular period of time, geographical area or specific departments of TfL.
Although your request can take the form of a question, rather than a request for specific documents, TfL does not have to answer your question if it would require the creation of new information or the provision of a judgement, explanation, advice or opinion that was not already recorded at the time of your request.
Please note that we will not be taking further action until we receive your revised request.
In the meantime, if you have any queries or would like to discuss your request, please feel free to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
[email protected]
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