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Contactless reimbursements

When to apply for a reimbursement

You can apply for a reimbursement if you were:

  • charged an incorrect fare amount due to an issue with an Opal card reader.
  • unable to tap off due to an emergency evacuation or power or equipment outage.
  • charged a default fare due to a service disruption.

Due to card issuer restrictions, reimbursements can only be requested for trips taken within the past 80 days.

If your contactless payment card has been used fraudulently or incorrectly, contact the issuing bank immediately.

You cannot get a refund if you: 

  • tapped on or off incorrectly
  • did not separate your cards or devices before you tapped (see card clash)
  • tapped off with a different card or device than you tapped on with.

See the Opal Refund and Balance Transfer Policy (pdf 226KB).

Before you claim

Contactless transport payments are charged at the end of each day (4am to 3.59am) and show on your bank statement as a total cost for the day. This means that all the trips taken during a day will appear as a single item on your bank statement.

Be sure to check all your trip information, including dates, times, locations, benefits and discounts before you claim. 

How to check your contactless activity.

How to apply for a reimbursement

You must complete and submit your request via the online form for contactless payments reimbursement. Simply enter the details of your credit or debit card, find the relevant trip and request reimbursement.

You can view basic information for your last 10 trips without registering for a Transport Connect account. If an incorrect fare has been charged, you can apply for a reimbursement within the self-service portal.

Check your contactless activity online and apply

If you have registered your contactless card in Transport Connect you can request a reimbursement easily when checking your travel and payment history.

If you identify an issue with your fare, you can simply click the ‘Fare not right’ link for the trip and follow the prompts to submit the reimbursement request.

Log into Transport Connect

What you need to know

  • If your reimbursement is approved, the amount will be credited to your next fare.
  • If you do not travel on the same card or device within 7 days, the amount will be reimbursed to the payment card. These reimbursements will not appear in your contactless activity so you will need to check your bank statement.
  • Card issuer fees will not be reimbursed. You need to contact your financial institution regarding the reimbursement of any card fees.
  • Please allow approximately 20 business days for your request to be processed.