Oyster Card Hell

[Toobbloke]

Just a note to bear in mind - TfL isn't a cover all for buses and trains in how they deal with alleged fare evasion. Entirely different law applies to each. It is worth knowing which law you are being taken to court under in order to prepare a decent defence.

Having a little bit of experience of this from an enforcement side (trains), I've always found that the majority of inspectors do need a little more than 'you didn't touch in' to take it to court. The poster who was using a card belonging to another would not only be guilty of fare evasion, this would probably be compounded by the fact that it's also technically theft. That kind of thing does make an inspector decide that perhaps there was an intent to avoid paying.

That said, there are some complete spanners out there in the role, much as in any industry.

[santeria248]

Re Busses

Anyone wanting to settle out of court after being summoned for Bus fare evasion; call this number: 0207-918-3467 and ask to speak to 'Nicole Curren.' Plead your case with Nicole over the phone.

Good luck and Merry Christmas!!

[fajnacipka]

my case was also settled out of court after I called to TfL and talked to Tim Caig. just be nice and explain. it's definitely worth doing so, if you don't want a criminal record.

good luck.

[Old-CodJA]

Originally Posted by kodbel

I just got a penalty fare today. I had 80p on my oyster pay as you go, and the barriers in wimbledon let me in through. But when I was in zone 1, the ticket checker said I am not allowed to travel through zone 1, but instead use overground. But my destination being Stratford(zone 3) and the minimum fare being £1, I would have been in negative figures anyway. I paid £2(zone 3 to 3 via 1) when I eventually finished my journey.
I can't justify my fault for the penalty fare cause I would fill up my negative balance anyway when I top up next time, and there isn't any notice stating anywhere stating I need to keep a minimum balance while travelling! If there is at all a fault, it's TFL's cause they didn't program their ticket barrier to block a card having less than £1!(Some of the barriers in zone 1 do block if there is less than £2, so the fact that the barrier in wimbledon didn't block me made me think that I was alright)

I did pay the penalty fare of £20. Is my argument valid for an appeal? What about criminall conviction and court appearence every one's talking about? The penalty fare notice doesn't mention anything about this.

Whilst no-one pretends there are not some problems with this system, I think it is worth pointing out that travellers do have some responsibility too.

This post states 'there isn't any notice stating anywhere that I need to keep a minimum balance while travelling'


What the notices do state throughout the underground and DLR is that you must have a valid ticket before travelling. There are also constant announcements on London Underground urging you to touch in to avoid paying maximum fares or penalties.

I think much of the confusion arises when travellers do not recognise that a pay-as-you-go oyster is not a travel ticket.

It only becomes a travel ticket when you touch in if it has sufficient credit for the journey that you want to make.

In this case your intended journey was through zone 1 and therefore at the start of the journey, your card must have sufficient credit to cover the fare for that journey.

By its very definition, you cannot have a negative balance on a pay-as-you-go oyster.

Negative balance can only apply where you have a weekly or season ticket on an oyster and also have pay-as-you-go facility for those trips where you want to travel outside your normal journey and then only once. The next time that you travel outside your paid for ticket your card will be rejected until you put credit on it.

[sonneybouy]

i havent got a penalty fare, but being a 15 year old and insufficient funds on the oyster by 10p, noone else that was around me with any money. and all i was trying to do was get home and not be a anti-social stereotype. Anyway, i jumped the barriers and the ticket sales guy at the counter caught me, and confiscated my oyster card. Whats gonna happen to me and what should i say.
Also, they are very condescending and aggressive people, i had to tell that guy at north harrow to stop shouting at me. Got his name, R Brown. Any advice?