Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about Transport for London’s decision to delay refunds for oyster card deposits until one year after the card was issued. This is because it does not cause Mr X significant injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains a change of policy by Transport for London (TfL) means he will have to wait 12 months to obtain a refund of his £5 oyster card deposit.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint, shared my draft decision with him and invited his comments.

Back to top

What I found

4. TfL changed its policy on refunding deposits for oyster card in February 2020. This means that any person issued an oyster card from 23 February will have to wait for a year to obtain a refund of their £5 deposit whereas previously the process was immediate.
5. Mr X has recently obtained an oyster card from TfL and says it was not clear TfL had changed its policy; as a result he visited several different machines at different times to try to get his money back. He is unhappy he will have to wait for 12 months for his refund and says TfL is acting unlawfully. He wants it to refund his £5 deposit immediately and pay him compensation.
6. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. TfL is entitled to alter its policies and it has explained the reasons for the change in this case is to reduce plastic waste from oyster cards used for short periods of time. While Mr X must wait one year to obtain a refund of his £5 deposit it is possible he may use the card again over this period. I appreciate Mr X is frustrated by the wait but the amount involved is small and the delay does not therefore cause Mr X significant enough injustice to warrant further investigation.

Back to top

Final decision

7. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the matter does not cause Mr X significant injustice.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman