From Monday 2 February 2015, across Torbay and the wider South West, councils will be switching on Hotlisting for the English National Concessionary Travel Passes (Bus Pass).

Hotlisting is the process by which the Bus Pass, which is an electronic smartcard, is turned off by the council, making it invalid for use. There are three main reasons why the council will have hotlisted a pass, which will affect only a very small number of pass holders:

1. That the pass has been reported either lost or stolen, and has already been replaced;
2. Because the council wrote to a pass holder and the letter was returned by the Royal Mail indicating the pass holder may have moved;
3. Because the council wrote to a pass holder asking for up to date proof of eligibility or requesting the return of the pass.

From this date, if a ticket machine on the bus confirms that a pass is hotlisted, it will be withdrawn from use and retained by the bus driver. Where a pass is withdrawn, and the driver is satisfied that the user is the person on the pass, the user will still be allowed to make that journey – although all future journeys will need to be paid for until either the correct pass is used or a new pass issued.

Councillor Robert Excell, Executive Lead for Safer Communities, Highways, Environment and Sport, said: “As the majority of reissued passes are to replace those previously reported lost by the pass holder, we recognise that there may still be some pass holders who currently use more than one pass when they are not supposed to, for example, where the original ‘lost’ pass has subsequently been found.

“To minimise concern to users, an amnesty period will be implemented from Monday 5 January 2015 to Monday 2 February 2015. During this time, if a pass is shown to be hotlisted, the driver will tell the user that the pass is no longer valid for travel and that it must not be used again. The pass will not be withdrawn at this time and the user will be able to continue with their journey.”

The user will then have time to contact the council to arrange for a new pass to be issued where appropriate, and to return the old pass to the council before the end of the amnesty period.

More information for bus pass users can be obtained by telephoning the Concessionary Fares Desk on 01803 207766 or by visiting Torbay Council’s Website at http://www.torbay.gov.uk/concessionaryfares