Request ID: FOI-1423-2324 Date published: 18 August 2023
You asked
Dear Transport for London,
I would like to understand as I myself am constantly being fined via my Oyster Card without my knowledge - even when I have touched in and out correctly.
Since Oyster Card was introduced:
1. How much £ was paid to to TFL per annum?
- for auto penalty fines (when a traveller does not touch in or out correctly)
- how much has been refunded to travellers who put in a claim because they disputed the charge due to circumstances beyond their control?
2. How many calls or email complaints have you received about disputed penalty charges? Per annum. Since Oyster has been introduced. And do you have a breakdown by traveller type - eg disabled, OAP etc
3. How many travellers have you fined each year, for not touching in and out properly?
I found this which was helpful below. About the fines.
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/how-to-pay-and-where-to-buy-tickets-and-oyster/pay-as-you-go/touching-in-and-out
And for anyone wanting a refund - I see now you have an online method to reclaim it. When was this started? As I was not always to claim my fines due to accessablity and time issues.
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/refunds-and-replacements/didnt-touch-in-or-out
We answered
TfL Ref: 1423-2324
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 1 August 2023 asking for information about Oyster payments.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. You asked: Since Oyster Card was introduced:
1. How much £ was paid to to TFL per annum? - for auto penalty fines (when a traveller does not touch in or out correctly) - how much has been refunded to travellers who put in a claim because they disputed the charge due to circumstances beyond their control?
2. How many calls or email complaints have you received about disputed penalty charges? Per annum. Since Oyster has been introduced. And do you have a breakdown by traveller type - eg disabled, OAP etc
3. How many travellers have you fined each year, for not touching in and out properly?
I found this which was helpful below. About the fines.
And for anyone wanting a refund - I see now you have an online method to reclaim it. When was this started? As I was not always to claim my fines due to accessiblity and time issues.
I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. However, it is not possible to extract all of the information you have requested within the costs limit for responding to FOI cases as set out under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act. Under section 12, TfL is not obliged to provide information if it would cost more than £450 to determine if that information is held, and to then locate, retrieve or extract it from elsewhere. This is calculated at a rate of £25 per hour, equivalent to 18 hours work.
In this case, the exemption applies because there is no quick or efficient way of answering your request in particular to extract the data to answer your second question from our customer contact database over the period of your request noting that Oyster was introduced in June 2003. To illustrate this using an example, just since the beginning of January 2023 up until the end of July 2023, we’ve received over 300,000 contacts coded as ‘Oyster’ - of these we estimate that around 16,500 of these are classified as a Contact Type of ‘Complaint’. We would therefore need to individually review many thousands of complaints over the period of your request which spans 20 years to extract those relevant to your request and then collate the figures, noting as well that our records would not date back that far. To do this even for a much shorter period of time would significantly exceed the cost limit under FOI on it’s own to answer.
Please also note the following:
We don’t have a code to describe an incorrect fare charged (looking at 2023 data)
We don’t capture traveller type when recording Oyster contacts
Please also note that we do not fine customers where there is a missing entry or exit validation. In these circumstances, we charge the maximum fare because we do not know what fare should be charged. Where possible, we make deductions about what the customer is likely to have done and apply a refund. We regularly publish this information on our website and information on Oyster pay as you go incomplete journeys and refunds can be found here:
To help bring the cost of responding to your requests within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider refining your requests to concentrate on matters which are important to you.
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. If you have specific questions relating to these topics we may be more easily able to respond to these than to a request for any information held.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely
Sara Thomas FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
