Petition Defending a penalty fare where a ticket has been purchased

Penalty fares (PF) are charged by Train Operating Companies (TOC) where the passenger fails to produce a valid ticket at any point. Having bought a valid ticket is no defence, so any refund of the PF is discretionary. The PF is to penalise fare evaders without criminal prosecution; penalising fare paying customers in this way is wrong. I ask the House to amend the current laws to prevent TOCs from charging PFs where it can be shown that the right fare has been paid, for instance by a card receipt or statement. The TOC would then have to show that the ticket was not appropriate. In all other respects the customer would be treated as having purchased the ticket. Therefore any other discretions that might apply, for example travelling beyond the ticket destination, would apply. This restricts the application of the PF provisions to situations where a fare is truly being evaded. There may also be provisions to protect TOCs from habitual offenders (say more than one instance per month).