At the Stations Revenue Forum on the 28th January, Management informed us that they intend to do away with the £3 refundable deposit charged when a customer buys an Oystercard and will introduce a £3 charge for each card issued which will no longer be refundable. In other words if you want to travel on London Underground there is a £3 surcharge for the privilege of using their services.

RMT argued against this telling LU management that as a publicly-owned, public service provider London Underground has an even greater responsibility during times of economic hardship to do all it can to minimise the financial burden ordinary people face, yet its only contribution thus far is to increase fares by 6% and even before people use the service, it now intends to impose a £3 surcharge for using an oyster. We pointed out that this is a real slap in the face for people who use the the tube and buses in London and is part of the Company's strategy of creating the conditions where they can close ticket offices and reduce opening hours. We also argued that this was one issue which would certainly not pass the so called 'Evening Standard test'.

At the Stations & Revenue Functional Council meeting yesterday management relented to RMT pressure and informed us that they would now be withdrawing their proposal to charge a £3 non refundable charge and would stick with the original refundable charge of £3 but this would now apply it to all Oytercards that are issued. A victory for common sense and the RMT.