Arriva Trains Wales Revenue Enforcement Policy
The ethos of Arriva Trains Wales is to collect the correct revenue
that we are contractually due from all our passengers. We recognise however there
is a small minority of passengers who will deliberately attempt to evade
payment. This document sets out the process of how we will deal with these
passengers and the steps we would put in place to help and protect passengers
who are unaware of their responsibilities getting captured by the process.
The underlying principal of this process is to protect
passengers who make an innocent mistake from those who are deliberate
ticketless passengers. In the first instance the customer will be asked for
payment with a reasonable administration charge. The process is intended to
identify those who are constant offenders or those that have carried out acts
of fraud. For those passengers who have attempted to defraud we have no option
but to carry out court proceedings.
All of these processes will be in line with the ATOC Code of
Practice and the Passenger Focus publication ‘ticket to ride’.
Unpaid Fares Notices
The Unpaid Fares Notice process is an important complement
to the enforcement process. There are genuine reasons why passengers are unable
to pay for tickets but have every intention of doing so. Examples of this could
be a passenger who has accidently left their wallet at home. The Unpaid Fares
Notice process is not designed to be a cheap option but an option of last
resort for passengers who have no means of paying for a ticket.
Records of the Unpaid Fares Notices issued will need to be
cross referenced against the prosecutions database. If a customer has unsettled
unpaid fares or has used the Unpaid Fares process a number of times they should
be interviewed by Revenue Protection staff and consideration given to
prosecution as a repeat offender.
Unpaid Fares Notices can be issued by Arriva Trains Wales employees
or Revenue Protection Inspectors.
Unpaid fares notices issued by Arriva Train Wales will be
clearly shown on the notice. A 21 day time limit is allowed to dispute the
Unpaid Fares Notice. Appeals should be made through
IRCAS,
PO Box 212,
Petersfield
GU32 9BQ.
Process Overview
All Passengers
must have a the correct ticket for the journey they are taking and it is their
responsibility to have one, they must how ever be given an opportunity to
purchase tickets before entering this process. These are:
- Booking office
- TVM
- On train - but only if there is no ticket machine at the station where you start or interchange your journey
If there has not been an opportunity to purchase a ticket
then the passenger should be sold the correct one. In the event of a passenger choosing not to
purchase a ticket they will be interviewed. After a passenger has been
interviewed for travelling without a valid ticket, before any further action is
taken the customer will be written to and given 21days to confirm the details
of the information provided at the time. They will be offered the opportunity
to provide clarification or any mitigating circumstances.
If the customer has not responded within 21 days then further
action will be taken.
Once a full response has been received the case will be
reviewed. All cases will be assessed on their own merit. There are three
possible outcomes from any case
- Ceasing of Proceedings
- Administrative Settlement
- Prosecution
Customers can make genuine mistakes.. If this is the first
time a customer has been identified within this process they should not normally
be taken to prosecution and may be offered an administrative settlement. The
exception to this is if there is an attempted fraud or other aggravating
circumstance.
Prosecution will be the last course of action. There are
some areas where prosecution is unavoidable.
- Fraud
- Giving false personal details
- Knowingly claiming a short journey
- Repeat offender e.g. Travelling without a ticket
on more than one occasion
Recording of Passengers Interviewed
Detailed records of the customers that have been interviewed
will be held in accordance with data protection laws.
Customers Contact
Transport Investigations Ltd will handle all correspondence
with customers with regards to this policy. Contact details are below:
Transport Investigation Ltd,
1 Station Approach,
March,
Cambridgeshire,
PE15 8SE,
Telephone: 01354 656 655