Fined on a Paris bus despite validating my ticket – has anyone successfully appealed this?
I wanted to share my experience and ask if anyone has had something similar happen with a ticket stored in Apple Wallet.
This morning, I boarded a bus in Paris and tapped my iPhone on the validator as usual. I had valid public transport tickets loaded in Apple Wallet. My phone registered the interaction, and I continued my journey believing everything was fine.
A few stops later, ticket inspectors boarded the bus. When they checked my iPhone, they told me that there was no valid ticket registered for the journey and I was fined.
What makes this particularly confusing is what I found in Apple Wallet afterwards.
At the exact time I boarded the bus, Apple Wallet shows a **“Card Read”** event. It also shows the location where I boarded the bus and the following message:
“The transaction amount is not available from the public transport agency, but your ticket count has been updated to reflect this charge.”
My ticket count was indeed reduced. So from my perspective, I had purchased a valid ticket, tapped my phone on the validator, my iPhone recorded the interaction, and my ticket balance was updated accordingly. I had absolutely no reason to believe that the validation had failed.
I was travelling with someone using an Android phone. We boarded together and validated our tickets at the same time. His validation was apparently registered correctly and he was not fined, while mine was not visible on the inspector’s device.
I have now submitted an official complaint/appeal to RATP and included screenshots from Apple Wallet showing the Card Read, the exact time and location, and the message about the ticket count being updated. I am currently waiting for their response.
I understand that passengers are responsible for having a properly validated ticket, but in this situation I genuinely don’t know what else I could have done. I bought the ticket, tapped the validator, and my phone gave me every indication that the interaction had been registered.
Has anyone here experienced the same or a similar issue with an iPhone/Apple Wallet ticket in Paris? If so, did RATP accept your appeal and refund the fine?
I’ll update this post when I receive their decision, in case it helps other travellers who encounter the same problem.