Transport for London has been urged to be “far more active” in its efforts to return unused Oyster balances to customers it emerged that the agency currently holds almost £170 million in dormant balances.

When Boris Johnson became Mayor in May 2008 there was just £4.25 million left in Pay As You Go balances on unused Oyster cards, with TfL holding a further £2.81 million in card deposits.

Official figures show that this has now spiralled to £85.6 million in Pay As You Go balances and £83.2 million in deposits.

Mr Johnson recently told Caroline Pidgeon, leader of City Hall’s Liberal Democrat group, that TfL “is doing everything it reasonably can to remind and encourage customers to reclaim balances and deposits on Oyster cards they no longer need.”

“Some 2.5 million emails were sent to customers this year alone including this reminder and there has been extensive publicity through the Metro publication (travel page and full page advertisements), the TfL website and via social media.”



However Ms Pidgeon today said that, with dormant balances growing by more than £2 million a month, “I simply do not accept that TfL are doing everything they reasonably can to allow the public to claim back their own money.”

She added: “Transport for London are never shy in using publicity except it seems when it involves telling the public how they can get back money left on dormant Oyster cards.

“It is time that TfL started to be far more active and gave more people the chance to get hold of their own money sitting on unused Oyster cards.”