Outrage as Sadiq Khan warned people could ‘miss out on refunds’ after attack

Sadiq Khan has been warned that people could ‘miss out on refunds’ as Transport for London (TfL) continues to recover from a huge cyber attack.

The network was hit on August 31. Currently, officials are not able to access journey data for customers using contactless cards, and therefore cannot process refunds.

It is understood that this is set to change ‘soon’, as experts work ‘around the clock’ to restore the technology.

But Oyster card data and photocards – which provide free or discounted travel – are back up and running. TfL will have access to every customer’s journey data in due course, officials say.

But travellers have been advised to ‘keep proof of travel’ if they plan to apply for a refund so that they may be ‘processed quicker’.

Sadiq Khan has said that ‘people who should have had free travel’ over the last three months could be left out of pocket because they ‘may have lost their receipt and they may not claim it back’, Londoncentric reports.

Neil Garratt AM, the leader of City Hall’s Conservative group has expressed his concern.

He told the Daily Express: “Of course people were always going to miss out on refunds, and I’m frankly shocked it’s taken the Mayor this long to admit it.

“The Herculean task he set Londoners of having to track every individual journey themselves, comparing the pricing, checking it against the Byzantine TfL fare system, calculating any irregularities, the location, time, and station it occurred, all over the space of now three months and counting was absurd.

“Londoners are now out of pocket, unlikely to ever see compensation, and the best they can get from their Mayor is ‘oops’.

“I feel for the people who have been affected – chances are I have been too. Who knows – my first thought when I step out of a Tube station isn’t to automatically update a spreadsheet.”

A spokesperson for TfL said: “If any customer is overcharged or paid an incorrect fare that they should not have can contact our customer services team.

“The team will have full access to customer’s Oyster and contactless journey history soon, and customers will be able apply for a refund once services are restored.

“We have also suggested that passengers consider keeping proof of travel, particularly passengers who have been unable to apply for concessionary photocards.

“Passengers who use Oyster or contactless will be able to rely on their journey history once systems are restored, but refunds may be processed quicker if they keep a record of any journeys they feel might be impacted.”