TfL denies double-charging bus passengers for contactless fares
28 January, 2013
category: Contactless, Transit
Transport for London (TfL) is denying implications that bus passengers are being double-charged for fare since it began accepting contactless-enabled bank cards across the public transport system, according to MayorWatch.
Since the introduction last month, frequent complaints have been received from passengers who have seen unexpected charges on debit and credit cards and believe they also paid via their Oyster Pay As You Go or season ticket.
A statement released by Shashi Verma, director of Customer Experience at TfL, reassured passengers that there is “no possibility of both cards being charged.”
“When a contactless payment card and an Oyster card are presented simultaneously to an Oyster reader, bundled together in a wallet or purse for instance, the reader will reject the tap and no payment will be taken from either card,” Verma added.
TfL has previously warned passengers that the Oyster ticket reader will deduct the fare from the first card it is able to read and has advised storing Oyster and contactless-enabled bank cards separately and taking care over which card they tap on the reader.
“If a customer presents a wallet with two or more cards and there is a significant time gap before the second card is detected, this can result in the first card being charged which may not be the card the customer wanted to pay with. This has happened in a small number of instances and we have given these customers a full refund. However we have had no instances of two cards being charged simultaneously for the same fare,” assured Verma.
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