My brother got caught using my 16+ zip oyster card!

You just get fined and your Oyster will be returned to you eventually. Sometimes they don't even fine you, believe it or not. Only about a £20 fine.

tis is the first time we've done it. its just that my brother didn't have enough money to buy a day bus pass and my mum wasn't at home.

Hi, first off i know that what me and my brother did was wrong and i'm not gonna try and make any excuses to make us look better.

yesterday, my brother borrowed my oyster card as he didn't have enough money to pay for a bus pass and i weren't planning on going out.

on his way home, he got caught by an inspector and confiscated my oyster card. the inspector took his details - name, address etc. and said he should get a letter within 10 working days. The inspector also gave him 2 piece of paper one is a "receipt for withdrawn document" and the other one just says " RTM Fare Payments and tickets issued without payment are not transferrable and must be retained for inspection. They remain the property of TFL and must be surrendered on demand to an authorised agent of TFL. TFL enforcement team will be in contact with you within 10 working days...."

My question are
- what will happen? would he go to jail?
- would he have to pay a penalty, if so how much?
- will i be able to apply for a new oyster card?

Please reply Many thanks

Thank you sooo much for replying.. i hope that this is what happens.. i read lots of threads on google and all claims to have gone though court summons and paid 150-300 fine. :/

You're welcome haha. I have relatives working in TfL and most have said it's always a fine, but never anything too serious.

It always depends, sometimes they let you off and send you the pass back, sometimes they send you to court and fine you quite high.

You will never, ever get arrested or prosecuted however.

Edit: Keep in mind if you pay the fine as soon as you get the letter, nothing will happen and it will be £20-£50. If you take too long you may have to go to court and then get a large fine such as £200.

Oh right. hopefully its just that then. i don't want my brother to get a criminal record or anything lol.. couldn't care less about my oyster card right now.

Thank you so so much.. you've no idea how that made me feel better. ahaa

You're welcome and if you do end up having to pay the fine but also going to court, theres a chance it will go on your brothers criminal record. If you pay a fine but don't go to court, then your brothers criminal record will stay clean.

Hi, first off i know that what me and my brother did was wrong and i'm not gonna try and make any excuses to make us look better.

yesterday, my brother borrowed my oyster card as he didn't have enough money to pay for a bus pass and i weren't planning on going out.

on his way home, he got caught by an inspector and confiscated my oyster card. the inspector took his details - name, address etc. and said he should get a letter within 10 working days. The inspector also gave him 2 piece of paper one is a "receipt for withdrawn document" and the other one just says " RTM Fare Payments and tickets issued without payment are not transferrable and must be retained for inspection. They remain the property of TFL and must be surrendered on demand to an authorised agent of TFL. TFL enforcement team will be in contact with you within 10 working days...."

My question are
- what will happen? would he go to jail?
- would he have to pay a penalty, if so how much?
- will i be able to apply for a new oyster card?

Please reply Many thanks

It happened to me last year. They confiscated the card and took my details. I was sent a letter giving me two options, going to court or paying a £60 fine. Obviously I paid the fine but you don't have that option if you're caught a second time. Safe to say I'll never try it again.

Dont be a ****ing retard, the guy was just worried.



I think its a £20 fine, usually on the spot, they will keep your details to see if you repeat the offence.

Well obviously your brother's been a bit of a muppet hasn't he - when you touch in with a 16+ Oyster it beeps once but it also says "Child" doesn't it? That's more than enough of a telltale sign.

Anyways, neither of you are getting locked up - just pay a fine and at most, you'd probably be denied another oyster card.

Thank you soo much for replying!! If ever were given the same options, we'd most definitely go with paying the fine.. Did the card owner ever get their oyster card back?

Thank you for replying.. Yeah we'll definitely go with just paying the fine.. Have to wait and see what the letter says.

Firstly, I think it's a civil matter for avoiding a fare, not a criminal matter, ie the prosecution don't build a massive case so I don't think they'll be a criminal record in any case. I think criminal cases are for people who have done things which impact on others such as stealing from investors, murder, and all the other physical crimes, whereas using someone else's oyster is stealing, but from the state and in any case it would cost the government a lot to take you to court over £2. It's just like stealing sweets from a shop, it rarely ends up in court

Exactly. It only ends up in court if you believe you're not in the red and feel that the situation is unfair - going to court gives you the chance to make an appeal/complaint against TfL. But of course, you're aware that what you and your brother did was wrong - so there's no need for court.

Just speaking in general here - if you take it further to court and you've not got enough evidence to suggest that you're not at fault for anything, then I suppose you'd be asked to pay not only the fine, but also TfL's legal fees and court proceeding fees