DLR - Penalty Fare Notice

Divah99

I had a valid 1 month travel card in my Oyster and only realised that I had misplaced it at somewhere after touching in at my starting point when I was asked to produce a ticket by the ticket inspector. I told I had misplaced my Oyster, however since I didn't have a valid ticket to show I was issued a Penalty Fare notice. I later found my Oyster card at my local station on my return home.

I made an appeal to the Appeals Service challenging the penalty as I had proof of a valid ticket and also provided my Oyster travel history to prove that I have touched in at the start of the journey. I got a reply today from the Appeals Service stating the below and I quote

"Whilst I acknowledge that you had a validated Oyster card and misplaced it for inspection, a ticket is evidence of permission to make a rail journey and it is the passenger's responsibility to keep it safe. It is the production of the validated card that permits travel and, as such, Oyster cards or receipts produced at a later date in support of an appeal will not be considered."

I find this totally unacceptable as I have a prepaid monthly travel card and failing to produce one at the request of the inspector should not be treated as not having a valid ticket. Surely TFL can check my Oyster account to establish if I had a valid ticket for that journey or not? Any advice on how I can overturn this decision?

Thanks.
Divah

agrinnall

Obviously they could check, but it's not relevant to the offence, which is that you travelled without having a valid ticket to show when asked. Other people know a lot more than me about the rules, but I'd say your best option is to pay up and take more care in future.

Stigy

Agrinnall is quite right I'm afraid.

The problem is, the inspector doesn't know you or know what your intentions were. What's to say you hadn't lent it to a friend to use? Yes TfL could check the history, but the fact remains that you HAVE committed and offence under Railway Byelaws (18(2) specifically). This is an offence of strict liability, which in layman's terms means you either did it, or didn't, and there's no defence to this charge.

I'm afraid you'll just have to pay the penalty and put it down to experience. If you ignore it or refuse to pay it, you'll more than likely be summonsed to court under said Byelaw (there is no further appeal process as such). If found guilty at court. Which is highly likely. You'll receive a fine equivalent to half the average weekly wage (200GBP usually), plus all costs etc.