2.1 Making an Appeal
A customer can make an appeal against a PFN which they have been issued if they believe that its issuance was not in compliance with the Act as detailed in Appendix B of this document (Extract from the Midland Metro (Penalty Fare) Act 1991).
An appeal can be made at the time the notice is issued, or at any later time before the expiration of the period of 21 days, commencing on the day following the issue of the PFN.
Appeals must be in writing or by e-mail, and the PFN reference number must be quoted in all correspondence. Appeals must be sent to:
Penalty Fare Appeals
The Metro Centre
Potters Lane
Wednesbury
WS10 0AR
Or email: penaltyfareappeals@westmidlandsmetro.com
On receipt of an appeal against a PFN, the 21 day period for payment, which will commence from the day following the date of issue, will immediately be suspended until a decision is made.
All appeals received will be acknowledged on receipt and be dealt with within 28 days.
After a decision is made the following will apply:
APPEAL UPHELD | PFN is no longer payable but the customer may be required to pay the fare for the journey made where this has not already been done. | PFN will be refunded less an amount equal to the fare payable for the journey made and where this had not already been paid. |
APPEAL DISMISSED | PFN will remain payable, and the 21-day countdown will resume from the date of notification to the customer. If the remaining period for payment is less than 10 days, the payment period will be extended to 10 days. Legal proceedings may be brought in the normal manner if the PFN remains unpaid after the expiry of the 21-day period. | When the PFN has already been paid, no further action will be necessary. |
The outcome of each appeal will be notified in writing to the person concerned, when such a decision has been reached.
All correspondence will be recorded on the PFN database.
Should a customer fail to pay the penalty fare within the 21-day period and not appeal, MML reserves the right to take legal action to recover the amount of the penalty fare. This may result in a summons being issued under the Midland Metro Byelaws as enacted under the Midland Metro Act 1989 and may also result in the customer being prohibited from entering the premises of or using the tram.
2.2 Appeal Stages
There are 2 stages to the Penalty Fare appeals process.
Stage 1 | Network Manager review | Appeal must be received within 21 days, commencing on the day following the issue of the PFN. |
Stage 2 | Operator’s Panel review | Appeal must be received within 14 days from date of Stage 1 rejection letter |
At each appeal stage, the circumstances relating to the issue of the penalty fare and the degree of compliance of the issue of the penalty fare with the requirements of the Act will be considered.
Stage 1, the decision will be made by a Network Manager. The decision made will be communicated to the customer, along with the reason for upholding or dismissing the appeal. This response must be made within 14 days of receipt of the appeal and must provide details of how to make a second stage appeal and the permitted timescales for this, should the customer wish to do so.
If the customer is dissatisfied with the result, a further appeal against the decision can be made to the Operator’s Panel (Stage 2). The Operator’s Panel is comprised of the Head of Operations and the Metro Customers Services Manager. This second appeal must be made within 14 days of the notification of the outcome of the Stage 1 appeal. The decision reached will be communicated to the customer including the grounds for upholding or dismissing the appeal. This response must be made within 14 days of receipt of the appeal. The outcome of the Stage 2 appeal will be final.
Only one appeal stage will be considered at a time. A Stage 2 appeal can only be made once a Stage 1 appeal has been considered and rejected.
2.3 Grounds for upholding appeals
Appeals against penalty fares must be upheld if any of the following specified conditions apply:
- A notice was displayed at the tram stop where and at the time when the customer commenced his/her journey, indicated that it was permissible for customers to board a tram without first purchasing a valid ticket.
- A MML Authorised Person gave the customer permission to board a tram without purchasing a ticket.
- A notice compliant with Section 7 of the Act was not displayed at the tram stop or tram where and when the customer commenced his/her journey.
In any other cases, consideration must be given to all the known facts and if none of the circumstances listed above apply, an appeal will normally be dismissed, except where the circumstances appertaining may be regarded as exceptional and the imposition of a PFN unreasonable.
2.4 Appeals Administration
Documents and evidence relating to penalty fares and appeals will be held by MML for a period of 3 years from the date the Penalty Fare was issued..
2.5 Compliance Audit
Periodic audits will be undertaken by MML’s QHSE department on MML’s compliance with this procedure.
