Transport (Compliance and
Miscellaneous) Amendment (On-theSpot Penalty Fares) Bill 2013
Introduction Print
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
General Outline
The Bill establishes an on-the-spot penalty fares scheme as an alternative
mechanism for enforcing certain public transport offences. The Bill amends
the Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous) Act 1983 to provide
support for the scheme.
Fare evasion on public transport remains a significant problem in Melbourne
and currently costs the State around $60 million each year in lost revenue.
The prime anti-fare evasion activity on public transport at the moment
involves the use of authorised officers employed by major public transport
operators like Metro Trains Melbourne and Yarra Trams.
These officers are used across the public transport system to help detect
passengers who do not hold a valid ticket for their travel.
The officers ask passengers to show their tickets. If a passenger does not
hold a ticket or their ticket is invalid for their trip, the officers then ask the
passenger for their name and address and seek verification of those details.
The officers then usually report that information and the details of possible
ticket offences to the Department of Transport, Planning and Local
Infrastructure. The Department then generally issues an infringement notice.
Almost 160 000 infringement notices were issued by DTPLI last year.
However, despite this fare evasion still remains a major concern in
Melbourne.
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BILL LA INTRODUCTION 30/10/2013
Public Transport Victoria (PTV) has been considering new and better ways
of reducing fare evasion. It has recommended that the government support
the introduction of an on-the-spot penalty fares scheme which allows
authorised officers to deal more quickly, effectively and equitably with fare
evasion on the spot.
The on-the-spot penalty fares scheme is similar to overseas public transport
penalty fares schemes which give people caught fare evading the opportunity
to pay a penalty immediately on the spot.
Passengers found without a valid ticket can choose to deal with their fare
evasion activity through an immediate cash, credit card or EFTPOS payment,
rather than through the infringements system used currently in public
transport.
The on-the-spot penalty fares system also helps to provide a fairer and more
efficient way of combatting fare evasion when used in parallel with the
existing infringements system which will continue to be available in
appropriate cases.
At $75 initially, the on-the-spot penalty fare will be substantially lower than
the current adult infringement penalty of $212. However, while the amount
is low enough to encourage many fare evaders to dispense with the matter by
paying immediately, it is still a substantial amount of money and a significant
deterrent to those considering travelling on public transport without paying
first and getting the right ticket. Penalty fares will not be offered to minors.
An on-the-spot penalty fare is not a criminal fine and does not involve the
criminal justice system.
The new system will increase the productivity and efficiency of authorised
officers and help to increase farebox revenue as fare evasion decreases.
Clause Notes
Clause 1
sets out the main purpose of the Bill which is to establish an
alternative mechanism for enforcing public transport ticket
offences by providing for the payment of on-the-spot penalty
fares.
Clause 2
provides that the Act comes into operation on a day or days to be
proclaimed. A date of 1 July 2014 is set as the default date for
commencement of the Act.
Clause 3
provides that the Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous)
Act 1983 is the Principal Act that is amended by the Bill.
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Clause 4
substitutes the definition of entitlement to use a public transport
service in the Act. It now includes an entitlement to use a public
transport service arising from the payment of an on-the-spot
penalty fare under the Act.
Clause 5
inserts new definitions into the Principal Act for the purposes of
the new on-the-spot penalty fares scheme. The new definitions
are—
on-the-spot penalty fare which means the amount prescribed by
the regulations for an on-the-spot penalty ticket;
on-the-spot penalty ticket which means a ticket that entitles the
person to use or have used a public transport service;
on-the-spot penalty ticket offence which means an offence
against any regulations made under section 221AA of the Act
that is prescribed as an on-the-spot penalty ticket offence.
Clause 6
makes a consequential amendment to section 212(1B) of the Act
in order to ensure that ticket infringements are subject to the
on-the-spot penalty fares scheme.
Clause 7
insets a new section 212AA in the Act. New section 212AA
provides the prime statutory basis for an on-the-spot penalty fare
scheme.
New section 212AA(1) gives an authorised officer the discretion
to offer a person whom the officer believes has committed an
on-the-spot penalty ticket offence the opportunity to pay an
on-the-spot penalty fare.
New section 212AA(2) provides that an offer to pay the penalty
fare is subject to directions. New section 220DC enables the
Public Transport Development Authority to give directions to
authorised officers in relation to the offer of an on-the-spot
penalty fare.
New section 212AA(3) provides for a person who is offered the
penalty fare to accept the fare by paying the fare or by arranging
for another person to pay the fare. The penalty fare may be paid
to an authorised officer or to another person who is directed by
the authorised officer to receive the fare and who is authorised to
receive such payments by the Public Transport Development
Authority. The fare may also be paid directly to the Public
Transport Development Authority.
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New section 212AA(4) enables an authorised officer to withdraw
the offer of the on-the-spot penalty fare if the fare is not paid
within a reasonable period of time.
New section 212AA(5) requires the authorised officer who offers
the on-the-spot penalty fare to issue or cause to be issued an
on-the-spot penalty ticket to the person upon payment of the fare.
If an on-the-spot penalty ticket is not issued, the authorised
officer commits an offence and is subject to a penalty of not more
than 20 penalty units.
New section 212AA(6) provides that an on-the-spot penalty
ticket entitles the person to whom it is issued to use a public
transport service subject to any conditions determined by the
Secretary under section 220D of the Act. A public transport
service is defined in the Act as a service provided by a bus
company or a passenger transport company to transport members
of the public, and includes any ancillary matters such as allowing
entry to any place used in relation to the provision of such a
service.
New section 212AA(7) prevents a person from being punished
twice for the same offence. The subsection provides that a
person who pays an on-the-spot penalty fare cannot be
prosecuted or served with an infringement notice for the ticket
offence to which the on-the-spot penalty fare relates or any other
on-the-spot penalty ticket offence in respect of the same use of
public transport services. For example, if the offence is not
having a valid ticket, if the person accepts to pay the on-the-spot
penalty fare for that offence, the person cannot be prosecuted or
served with an infringement notice for that offence or for any
related offence that may have been committed, e.g. failure to
produce a valid ticket.
Clause 8
inserts new sections into the Act which support the new penalty
fares scheme.
New section 220DB provides for the conditions determined
under section 220D to specify the public transport services that
a person is entitled to use if they have been issued with an
on-the-spot penalty ticket. The conditions may also provide for
the entitlement to apply retrospectively to the start of the person's
use of the public transport services.
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New section 220DC gives the Public Transport Development
Authority power to give directions to authorised officers in
relation to the offer of an opportunity to pay an on-the-spot
penalty fare. The directions may specify conditions to which the
exercise of an authorised officer's powers are subject and may
specify the methods by which an on-the-spot penalty fare must be
paid.
New section 220DD(1) provides for the amount of on-the-spot
penalty fares received by authorised officers or other authorised
persons to be paid to the Public Transport Development
Authority at the time and in the manner specified by the
Authority. New section 220DD(2) gives the Public Transport
Development Authority power to deduct any reasonable costs
which are incurred in administering the scheme. Reasonable
costs must be determined by the Minister for Public Transport
with the approval of the Treasurer, and must specify the amounts
or the method by which the amounts must be calculated.
New section 220DD(3) requires the Public Transport
Development Authority to pay any remaining amount of penalty
fares it has received into the Consolidated Fund.
New section 220DE(1) requires the Public Transport
Development Authority to keep prescribed records in relation to
the issuing of on-the-spot penalty tickets and the receipt of the
on-the-spot penalty fares in the prescribed form and manner.
New section 220DE(2) requires passenger transport companies,
bus companies and Bus Association Victoria to also keep such
records. A maximum penalty of 10 penalty units applies.
Clause 9
amends the regulation making powers in the Act by inserting
new heads of power to make regulations with respect to the new
on-the-spot penalty fares scheme. Regulations may be made
prescribing—

existing ticket offences as on-the-spot penalty ticket
offences;

the amount of the on-the-spot penalty fare, which is
proposed to be set initially at $75;

that the fare may be annually adjusted by the same rate
that a penalty unit is adjusted under the Monetary
Unites Act 2004 and rounded to the nearest dollar or
to the nearest dollar amount that is divisible by $5;
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
that the Public Transport Development Authority must
publish the amount of the penalty fare in the
Government Gazette and on their website each year it
is adjusted;

the records that must be kept in relation to the issuing
on-the-spot penalty tickets and the receipt of on-the-spot
penalty fares, and the form and manner of the records.
Clause 10 makes a statute law revision amendment to section 230F of the
Act in order to correct a grammatical error.
Clause 11 provides for the Act to be repealed on 1 July 2015. The repeal
of this Act does not affect the continuing operation of the
amendments made by it (see section 15(1) of the Interpretation
of Legislation Act 1984).
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