Request ID: FOI-1139-2324 Date published: 08 August 2023
You asked
F/on from FOI-1007
Perhaps my terminology is incorrect then - I have had an Oyster card 'cancelled' by TfL (failed auto top up and was blocked when I next tried to use it).
I resolved the negative balance but was still unable to access the credit on that cancelled Oyster card, I had to subsequently request a refund of the credit.
What is the total balance on unusable Oyster cards (as a result of TfL action) that customers have not yet requested a refund for?
We answered
Our ref: FOI-1139-2324/GH
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 13 July 2023 .
Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy. I can confirm that we do hold some of the information you require. We have interpreted your request as: ‘what is the unrefunded balance on hotlisted cards’.
Hotlisted Oyster cards are ones that have been cancelled and can no longer been used. The main reasons for hotlisting cards are because customers report them as having been lost or stolen, but they can also be cancelled if unpaid Auto Top-up charges are not recovered.
The Oyster card balance includes any unpaid Auto Top Up (ATU) as well as pay as you go credit held by the customer.
Due to the way Oyster cards are cancelled, refunds subsequently given to customers are not removed from the Oyster card balance.
Bearing the above in mind the total balance on all hotlisted Oyster cards with a failed ATU balance in the last year is £5377.96.
It is not possible for us to remove 1 & 2 from the balance amount (as the data isn’t linked once the card is hotlisted/disabled), therefore the figure provided is not the unrefunded balance but the total balance on all Oyster cards at the point they were cancelled.
If this is not the information you are looking for, please do not hesitate to contact me.
If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Graham Hurt FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
