TfL Ref: 1670-2324
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 16 August 2023 asking for information about how much TfL has paid for refunds for overcharged fares after using two devices on the same day of travel in recent years, following your previous request for information, TfL reference: 1283-2324.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. You asked:
1, How much in total has TfL paid in refunds, which have been authorised by the contact centre, when a customer has been overcharged for using two devices on the same day of travel on all types of services - underground, national rail, DLR, overground etc - across the transport network for the months of
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
2, How much in total has TfL paid in refunds authorised by the contact centre - underground, national rail, DLR, overground etc across the transport network - for the months of
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
3, Can you provide figures for how many refunds have been authorised for overcharged fares on all types of services have been issued by the contact centre for the periods
2023 so far
2022
2021
I would be happy if easier that the information is supplied for question three in a different easily accessible format such as monthly etc - as long as it shows the required information over a three year period.
If the time frame is exceeded by looking for refund information for July, June and May 2023 can you reduce this three month period to the two most recent months.
In addition, could TfL explain when the wallet card pay system began on the transport network and whether signs informing customers not to use two devices are in place at all stations, or just the major stations.
As mentioned in our previous response, when a customer uses two devices - for example, a physical card and then a wallet card on their phone for one journey, or fails to tap in or out on a journey, a maximum fare is charged, as we do not immediately know the correct journey taken. Our system can make automatic corrections on occasions, and customers can also apply for refunds online or by speaking to our Contact Centre.
Whilst we can provide you with the amount of refunds issued by our Contact Centre as a whole, to provide the number refunds issued when a customer has been overcharged for using two devices on the same day of travel on all types of services for the periods of interest referenced in your request, we would still need to manually review each refund and the circumstances given for their authorisation to compile this data, which again would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 to provide this detail in full.
Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with requests 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. In this instance, we estimate that the time required to answer your request would exceed 18 hours which, at £25 per hour (the rate stipulated by the Regulations), exceeds the ‘appropriate limit’.
Although refunds for incomplete journeys can be made automatically, online, or by speaking to our Contact Centre, as mentioned before, the reasons for providing a refund are not recorded in a way which allows us to readily report on the reason a refund was granted. Hence, whilst we can provide you with the amount of refunds issued by our Contact Centre as a whole, to provide details of the refunds for the reasons as specified in your request, would require us to individually analyse each refund received to answer your request accordingly, which would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ for responding to FOI requests. If you would like us to provide you with the amount of refunds authorised by our Contact Centre in total, please let us know.
If this is not the information you are looking for, 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
Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
