Amount of 250 Iranian Rial coins found in ticket machines on the TFL network.

Transport for London did not have the information requested.

Dear Transport for London,

Hello.

Please let me know the total amount of how many 250 Iranian Rial coins have been found in your ticket machines over the past ten years. This is the coin i am referring to - https://en.numista.com/catalogue/photo16... - on this link. I am asking about your ticket machines on all modes of transport that you operate (eg - London Underground / London Overground / TFL Rail / Docklands Light Railway / Croydon Tram / Buses / Cable Car / Ferries - etc).

Also please confirm if any prosecutions have been made relating to fraudsters using these 250 Iranian Rial coins in your ticket machines and if so how many prosecutions have been made over the past ten years.

These 250 Iranian Rial coins are worth less than 1p (about 1/10th of a penny to be exact) and are the exact same size/weight/length/dimensions as ordinary British Pound £2 coins. Therefore ticket machines and vending machines etc all accept them and recognise them as a £2 coin (despite them only being worth less than 1p).

Also to clarify just so there is no confusion "250" is the value of the coin in Iranian Rial (similar to how we have a "£2" pound coin for example). I am not referring to 250 different coins.

I work as a branch manager at a supermarket and we have had major problems with these coins being used by fraudsters in our self service check outs so i am making this request as i am interested if these problems have occurred with other businesses and industries as well.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

John Smith

FOI, Transport for London

Dear Mr Smith

TfL Ref: 0978-1819

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 6 July 2018. Please accept my apologies for the delay in getting back to you.

Your request will be processed in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.

Your request will be processed by TfL, the Greater London Authority and its subsidiaries to provide you with a response in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy.

A response will be sent to you by 7 August 2018. We publish a substantial range of information on our website on subjects including operational performance, contracts, expenditure, journey data, governance and our financial performance. This includes data which is frequently asked for in FOI requests or other public queries. Please check http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transpar... to see if this helps you.

We will publish anonymised versions of requests and responses on the www.tfl.gov.uk website. We will not publish your name and we will send a copy of the response to you before it is published on our website.

In the meantime, if you would like to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Officer
Information Governance
Transport For London

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FOI, Transport for London

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Smith

 

TfL Ref: 0978-1819

 

Thank you for your email received by us on 6 July 2018 asking for
information about our ticketing machines

 

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of
the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can
confirm that we hold some of the information you require. You asked:

 

Please let me know the total amount of how many 250 Iranian Rial coins
have been found in your ticket machines over the past ten years. This is
the coin i am referring to -
[1]https://en.numista.com/catalogue/photo16... - on this link. I am
asking about your ticket machines on all modes of transport that you
operate (eg - London Underground / London Overground / TFL Rail /
Docklands Light Railway / Croydon Tram / Buses / Cable Car / Ferries -
etc).

 

Also please confirm if any prosecutions have been made relating to
fraudsters using these 250 Iranian Rial coins in your ticket machines and
if so how many prosecutions have been made over the past ten years.

 

These 250 Iranian Rial coins are worth less than 1p (about 1/10th of a
penny to be exact) and are the exact same size/weight/length/dimensions as
ordinary British Pound £2 coins. Therefore ticket machines and vending
machines etc all accept them and recognise them as a £2 coin (despite them
only being worth less than 1p).

 

Also to clarify just so there is no confusion "250" is the value of the
coin in Iranian Rial (similar to how we have a "£2" pound coin for
example). I am not referring to 250 different coins.

 

London Underground

 

We do not hold this information. I can advise that the type of foreign
currency identified in the revenue taken from our machines is not
recorded. Coins are collected on our behalf by the cash4coins company. If
you would like to contact cash4coins directly, please see their website
at: [2]https://www.cash4coins.co.uk/ Please note that as a private
company, cash4coins are not legally obliged to respond under the Freedom
of Information Act legislation.

 

Emirates Air Line

 

There are no reported instances of this currency being used.

 

London River Services

 

London River Services does not have any ticket vending machines.

 

London Tramlink

 

We do not hold this information. We have no record of such currency being
used in ticket machines located along the trams network.

 

London Overground

 

We do not hold this information; details of the type of currency used are
not recorded.

 

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to
appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would
like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Jasmine Howard

FOI Case Officer

Information Governance

Transport For London

 

 

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