Summary: Mr X complained Transport for London (TfL) refused to issue a refund on his annual railcard for the period where he did not use it due to the COVID-19 national lockdown. Mr X lost money because he could not use his railcard for five months of the year. The Ombudsman found TfL acted without fault and was entitled to refuse Mr X’s refund request.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained Transport for London (TfL) refused to issue a refund on his annual railcard for the period where he did not use it due to the COVID-19 national lockdown.
2. Mr X lost money because he could not use his railcard for five months of the year.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)
4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a body’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with a body’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
6. This complaint involves events that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government introduced a range of new and frequently updated rules and guidance during this time. We can consider whether the council followed the relevant legislation, guidance and our published “Good Administrative Practice during the response to Covid-19”.

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How I considered this complaint

7. As part of the investigation, I have considered the following:
• The complaint and the documents provided by the complainant.
• Documents provided by TfL and its comments in response to my enquiries.
• Guide to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
8. Mr X and TfL had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

9. Customers could ask TfL for a refund on railcards if they were self-isolating or not travelling because of COVID-19.
10. To qualify for a refund, customers needed to have at least six weeks remaining on their annual railcard. They also had to apply for a refund within eight weeks of their last journey.
11. The GDPR does not say how long companies should keep personal data about their customers for. Instead, it says personal data should not be kept for longer than is necessary for the purpose it was collected. It is up to individual companies to decide how long they need to keep customer personal data for. Once the data is not needed, companies should delete it or anonymise it.

What happened

12. Mr X bought an annual railcard commencing August 2019. It expired on 19 August 2020.
13. In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, TfL decided to offer refunds to customers who could not travel. It gave details about how customers could ask for a refund on its website.
14. On 23 March 2020, the government announced a national lockdown to reduce the spread of COVID-19. This meant people had to stay at home and could only go out for essential reasons.
15. Mr X told me he worked from home during the national lockdown and did not return to work until September 2020. He therefore did not need to travel to work and did not use his railcard after 17 March.
16. Mr X told me he contacted TfL by telephone in about May 2020. He recalls being told he had plenty of time to claim a refund because his railcard ran until August. Mr X said if he had known about TfL’s refund policy at that time he would have applied for a refund then because he knew he would continue to work from home.
17. Mr X asked TfL for a refund on 29 October 2020. He said he had not used his annual railcard from 17 March to 19 August. He also said he contacted TfL’s customer services, but they could not verify his journey history due to limitations of their computer system.
18. TfL responded on 3 November. It said it can only keep a customer’s journey history for eight weeks, it is then deleted. It said its COVID-19 refund policy required customers to ask for a refund within eight weeks of their last journey so it can check the history. TfL said it could not view Mr X’s journey history to see if he used his railcard between March and August. It therefore could not give a refund.
19. Mr X telephoned TfL because he was unhappy with its decision. On 10 November, TfL wrote to Mr X confirming why it could not give him a refund. It said he did not meet the conditions, which were:
• “You can apply for a refund if you bought your season ticket from us, and there is at least 6 weeks remaining on an annual ticket.
• You need to apply within 8 weeks of your last journey.”
20. Mr X brought his complaint to the Ombudsman because he did not think it was fair TfL penalised him because it did not keep journey information longer than eight weeks. He also said TfL should have told registered customers about the refund policy by email.
21. Mr X provided me with an email from his employer confirming he worked from home between March and September 2020. He told me he took on added caring duties for his parents because of the pandemic. He also had children at home as they could not attend school. That was his immediate concern. He said if TfL made him aware of its refund criteria he would have applied sooner.

Response to my enquiries

22. TfL told me it has a web-first approach to communication. It posted information about changes to its ticketing policy on its website on 17 March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. TfL did consider sending this information to registered customers by email but chose not to because many customers were still travelling.
23. To comply with data retention guidance, TfL only stores personal details about customer journeys for eight weeks. After eight weeks, it anonymises the journey details. However, it told me registered customers can sign up to receive details of their weekly or monthly journeys.
24. TfL told me it considered the individual circumstances of each refund request it received. It gave refunds to some customers who applied more than eight weeks after their last journey, where they were able to provide other evidence.
25. While Mr X has an email from his employer confirming he did not attend the office to work, TfL said that did not establish whether Mr X still used his railcard for other purposes.
26. TfL has no record of Mr X’s telephone call in May 2020. It does not consider the advice Mr X said he received is consistent with the guidance on its website.

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Analysis

27. TfL’s policy required annual railcard customers to claim a refund within eight weeks of their last journey and with at least six weeks remaining on their ticket. Mr X did not meet those criteria. He applied too late and after his annual railcard had expired.
28. We expect TfL to consider exercising discretion when considering refund requests. However, in this case it was not fault that TfL did not offer a refund. Mr X said he contacted TfL in around May, but he waited another five months to ask for a refund. I appreciate he had other responsibilities during the pandemic, but I do not consider it is fault for TfL to expect him to claim sooner, and certainly before his railcard expired.
29. TfL told me it gave refunds to customers who did not meet the refund criteria, where they gave other evidence. On the evidence seen, Mr X did not give TfL any other evidence or raise any exceptional circumstances. He gave me a copy of an email from his employer, confirming the dates he worked from home. He also explained he had other responsibilities during the pandemic. Unfortunately, Mr X did not give this evidence to TfL. TfL could only decide Mr X’s request based on the information he gave, so I do not consider it was at fault.
30. TfL does not retain customer journey data for more than eight weeks. In line with the GDPR, that is how long TfL considers is necessary. I appreciate Mr X feels TfL’s policy has unfairly impacted his request for a refund, but on the evidence seen it is up to TfL to decide how long they need to keep customer journey data for. It was therefore not fault to anonymise it after 8 weeks. Mr X can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if he considers TfL breached GDPR by not retaining his personal details for longer.
31. Mr X said that, as a registered customer who received service updates by email, TfL should have sent customers details of its refund policy. I can appreciate Mr X’s view. However, TfL opted to post its policy online only. It is commonplace for organisations to use their website to publish customer updates and I do not consider there is evidence for me to find fault with that approach here.

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Final decision

32. I have completed my investigation. I found TfL acted without fault and was entitled to refuse Mr X’s refund request.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman