What You Need To Know About Myki Fines

Those in Victoria know the convenience, and the pain, of the myki.

The myki is your ticket to travelling on Victoria’s transportation services. You simply touch on and touch off and top it up now and then. It’s honestly so much better than the little flimsy tickets that you’d have to line up for. (You know the ones: everyone in school would stack them up to show off how much they go on the bus, for some reason.)

The myki card is great. It’s pretty durable and you touch on in a few seconds. It’s honestly almost perfect. However, it’s the evil machines that sometimes don’t work that are the issue. You need to grab transport quick, or else you’ll miss it, so you go to touch on and the machine doesn’t work. Then boom, the authorised officer comes around and, when they see that your ‘touch’ didn’t register, you get slapped with a fine. Oh, joy!

Some officers urge people to pay the fine on the spot to avoid a bigger fine, without informing passengers of their options, or even their rights. Sometimes they even use physical force, which most ticket inspectors would agree is not how the job should be done; these bullies are obviously in the wrong line of work.  No wonder people pay the fine on the spot; it’s an intimidation game.

A new site, Myki Fines, takes you through all of the steps of the process, informing you of your rights and how you can get a ticket revoked (for appropriate reasons, of course). While some people erroneously complain about getting busted for being abusive and starting fights, a lot of people genuine do suffer from glitchy myki machines. Myki Fines lets you know where you stand.

There are special and exceptional circumstances stated on the site that can get you out of a fine (though they aren’t specifically listed in legislation). They can potentially include: an emergency, if you were very sick, if you were experiencing family violence, if you experienced a traumatic event that day, and if something happened that was out of your control. ‘Special circumstances’ refers to a mental disability, mental illness, serious addiction or homelessness.

If you have the proof of any issue and you haven’t actually done anything wrong, there shouldn’t be a problem in getting a fine turned over. But if there is, you can ask the department to review the fine internally, which you can apply for. (It's explained helpfully through the flow chart layout on the site.) Later, if you’re rejected, you can either pay the fine or challenge it in court.

Myki Fines is a great option for those wanting to challenge these fines. Sure, heaps of people deserve the fine, but really, sometimes certain circumstances get in the way of maintaining a valid ticket.

So read up, travellers; you just might be able to get out of a fine that you shouldn’t have gotten in the first place.

(Friendly tip: Always grab a picture of the nasty machine that doesn’t work or any other proof of your circumstances, keep valid ID on you, and take the later fine so you can contest any issues.)

Bianca Welsh-Jayne is one of Student Edge’s student contributors. Learn more about the contributors program.

Photo: Myki Fines.