RPI's issue the penalty fare there and then during the incident, if you alight the vehicle then as long as you are aware a report is submitted then this is satisfactory. IIRC the TFL contract also requires IRCAS to write to your given address (this is electronically dispatched from the inspectors notes) within 5 working days to also tell you that you have been issued the PF and to reaffirm this information as well. I find it highly unlikely that you would think that nothing would come of this after having your details taken and confirmed by an RPI.

If you go before a magistrate it has potential to be much more costly than £80 (it could run into hundreds of pounds), and leave you with a criminal record on top. I'm not saying they would pursue this to a prosecution, I'm saying it is one option they have open to them. A penalty fare is considered a "second chance", it is exactly what it says, a penalty for having a ticketing irregularity that they are offering you the chance to be dealt with away from the court system. You have been given the opportunity to settle this away from the court system, my advice is to take it and ensure you don't find yourself in this situation again. I'm sorry that this is probably not what you want to hear, you can choose your own path to bring this matter to conclusion. I'm merely offering my advice having experience in dealing with such matters.

I cannot see how you could 'win' any appeal as you breached the terms of the pass. Irrelevant if there is revenue loss or not, you failed to comply with terms attached to your pass which you agreed to when it was issued to you.

In regards to proof you can ask for a subject access request to CCTV on the bus if it is still available from the bus operating company. This will cost around £15 but you may find that this is now unavailable as it is wiped on a 2 week cycle usually.

My advice is to pay it. They could just proceed to a magistrates court to proceed the case which would then be more detrimental to you than £80.

TFL revenue staff use electronically printed Penalty Fares generated from a handheld PDA with special realtime software that send all PF's to their prosecutions team immediately, likewise with the IRCAS checks, these are electronically sent from IRCAS to the inspector in real-time via the Personal Digital Assistant. London Buses RPI staff don't require the signature from any passenger during issue of a PF or Irregularity Report for consideration of prosecution as they are not cautioned. Remember their are different rules and by laws on buses compared to the railway so obviously the RRA etc doesn't apply. From what the OP has said if he/she got off the bus during issue then as long as they were informed a penalty fare was being issued then TFL believe they have complied with their own rules. TFL bus RPI's do not have powers to detain, again this is not like the railway where is provision in law to allow passengers to be detained. If the OP got off during issue of any PF that was being printed, that is the fault of the OP not TFL as they failed to collect all required information before getting off.

You will have been reported via the TFL IR (irregularity report) procedure by the bus RPI for transferred pass. This usually leads to a court summons being issued as you are over the age of 18. This is not something London Buses would deal with as a penalty fare. You will in the next 7-10 days receive a letter asking for your version of events. Unless you have some serious mitigating reason for using this pass then it is likely TFL will choose to ask the court to issue a summons (a court summons can be issued for this by the court any time within 6 months of the date of offence) as it is in the public interest to prosecute as it is misuse of public funds. My advice would be to wait for the letter, check the accuracy (time date etc), their maybe a problem with the report or some other reason to not follow this through, however this is unlikely. Do not contact TFL until you receive the letter from them is this may slow down progression of your case and you confuse the matter which could be detrimental. The prosecution department do not like to be contacted by telephone and everything will need to be done in writing. Bear in mind that TFL will automatically retrieve from the OCTA (oyster computer system) all journey history for the previous 6 weeks of use on the withdrawn Oystercard. They may gain CCTV use from underground stations or other modes (buses, tram, DLR) as required to prove their case or history of any misuse. Therefore it is in your interest to be honest if this proceeds to court they may bring additional evidence that could disprove any false story which the court would look at in a very dim light. Depending on your offending history (and income) the court will award somewhere between £150-£300 fine, plus costs (often around £100), plus £15 victim surcharge, payment of the lost fare (currently £2.40p) plus a criminal record. Repeat offenders (this includes any previous fare evading reported to IRCAS by any UK transport operator such as railway, DLR, tram, tube) will be disclosed to the court if you are found (or plead guilty) for consideration when sentencing which would increase an imposed fine. It is highly unlikely you will go to prison for this. The TFL prosecutor on the day may consider an out of court settlement if the criminal record is likely to have a particularly detrimental effect, I believe they are instructed not to accept less than £400 on the day these days. However be under no illusion, TFL are under no obligation to settle out of court.

Im considering whether their maybe confusion with regards to the ticket. Did the OP purchase a child or Adult rate ticket? As the user is 16 it should be an adult one. There is no reason given as to why the ticket was "wrong" and the pf issued.

I think you'll find Hitler died in the last CENTURY.... Not decade - who's the rail retard now then!? Firstclassx is right, the laws and regs have clearly passed the test of time, and are still seemingly adequate even now for the range of offences on the railway.

I can get it down to £140.70 walk up fare if you are travelling off peak with no railcards. Don't forget railcards save 33% as well. Combining your rover ticket allows national rail conditions of carriage, section 19 part c to apply to this combination of tickets allowing you to combine tickets when the train doesn't stop there. Freedom of north east 4 in 7 rover £85 Retford to Peterborough cheap day return - £26 Peterborough to Kings Cross - £29.70 Total - £140.70 the returning same day. This took me 5 mins on my ipad, I'm sure if I spent a bit longer doing its could get this much lower as well. You just need to know the rules and routings.

I concur.

You seem to have me weighed up incorrectly timbo58, as I am employed to catch fare evaders, i am not one myself.

Not in the slightest, nobody deserves to assaulted in their line of work. However, a reply like this makes the driver as bad as the ignorant passenger if not worse, being a professional driver you should know better. I'm sure if this individual's employer were to hear this reply prior to any assault, they would bring into question the drivers actions.

Forgive me if this sounds like I'm having a dig, but if you were to get assaulted in the line of duty driving your bus, would you tell your employer the exact conversation above?

Nothing else I can add, the best bet is to do as SRPO suggests and prepare a letter using a template. I would also suggest you do absolutely nothing else until FCC contact you. In a busy department the inspector's report may not have been acted on yet, and therefore a case number probably not allocated yet. As difficult as it seems, draft a letter and wait till THEY contact YOU, otherwise your letter may get lost amongst the tooling-and-froing without a case number. I would also suggest enclosing a cheque with your letter offering to cover all costs and losses incurred. A ball park figure starts in the region of £150-£200. It is easier, quicker (and more profitable) for the company to accept the cheque rather than go down the court route. However, be under no illusion, they are under no obligation to accept this money, as misuse of any sort of staff travel privilege is severely frowned upon. I'd also advise you tell the employee to whom the nominee pass relates to as they may get questioned about this too.

I see OP stated further down that they travelled from Cricklewood. So the RPI is correct in that the pass is not valid.

Not true. Only bus operator (and Bus Operator nominee) are valid as described above by SRPO. LUL/TFL/Overground staff (and staff nominee) ARE valid additionally as listed below: C2C between Fenchurch street to Upminster and Liverpool Street to Stratford (not Stratford to Barking). NXEA between Liverpool Street to Stratford. FGW between Paddington to Greenford / West Drayton. Entire London Overground network. LM between Euston to Watford Junction. Virgin between Euston to Watford Junction (although this can't currently be used as no services are timetabled to allow setting down passengers northbound from Euston, or picking up southbound at Watford Junction). Chiltern from Marylebone to Amersham. FCC between Moorgate to Finsbury Park (via West Drayton only). FCC between West Hampstead to Elephant & Castle / London Bridge (The validity sheet I have specifically states NOT VALID BETWEEN KENTISH TOWN AND WEST HAMPSTEAD). (Also depending on length of service, the photocard on the staff pass may allow PTAC (privilege authority travel card) if the employee is/was safeguarded) So depending on where OP was travelling from he/she may have had a valid pass. Where we're you travelling from / to?