TfL Ref: FOI-2541-2122
Thank you for your letter of 28th January 2022 asking for information about Penalty Fare Notices on trams.
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 the information you require. Your questions are answered in turn below:
Question1: Send me the criteria that are used by TfL and Tramlink when assessing whether or not a fine that is levied qualifies as being subject to "exceptional mitigation" and therefore waived.
Answer: Please see the attached “Penalty Fare Appeals Policy”. Penalty Fares Notices are issued on TfL’s services by authorised members of staff in accordance with powers granted by Schedule 17 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 as amended by Part 4 of the Transport for London Act 2008. This document relates to Penalty Fare Notices issued on services run by London Bus Services Limited (LBSL), London Underground Limited (LUL), Docklands Light Railway (DLR), London Overground Rail Operations Limited (LOROL), London Tramlink (Trams) and TfL Rail.
TfL takes non-payment of fares very seriously. Therefore, an appeal will only be allowed if:
• The original decision to issue a Penalty Fare Notice was incorrect
• There is significant and relevant mitigation and evidence put forward by the appellant to justify discretion – there is no list of what constitutes significant and relevant mitigation - each appeal has its own individual set of circumstances
• There were no facilities available to purchase a fare at the station where the appellant began his or her journey; or there was a notice from TfL indicating that passengers may use the service at a particular station at a particular time without having a fare; or an authorised person gave permission or authorised the passenger to use the service at a particular station at a particular time without having a fare
Question 2: The revenue obtained from fines issued on Tramlink services;
And;
Question 3: The amount of fines waived due to "exceptional mitigation".
Answer: It is not possible to source the requested information within the costs limit for responding to FOI cases, as set under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act. Under section 12, TfL is not required to provide information if it would cost more than £450 to determine if the information is held, and to then locate, retrieve or extract that information from elsewhere. This is calculated at a rate of £25 per hour, equivalent to 18 hours work.
These questions are open-ended in terms of a timeframe and as such cover the entire existence of the tram service back to its inception in May 2000. In particular, question 3 would require us to review every penalty fare issued to see whether any of those which had been the subject of an appeal had the appeal allowed. This could only be achieved at disproportionate cost. In order to bring the request within the costs limit you may wish to reframe it to narrow its scope – for example, by restricting the request to a specific period (and, clearly, the more limited the period in question the more likely it is we will be able to source the information within the costs limit).
Question 4: Send me copies of all the following items that have been sent as attachments to correspondence that I have sent in the process of my appeal:
Ian Sutcliffe's letter AP1/R65875 of 29 September 2021;
Answer: A copy is enclosed.
David Omomowo's letter of AP1/R65875 of 22nd October 2021;
Answer: A copy is enclosed.
the original Penalty Charge Receipt;
Answer: A copy is enclosed.
Question 5: the name of the legal entity that issued the fine?
Answer: Tram Operations Limited.
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,
David Wells,
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
