Forgot to Tap Off?

If you forget to tap off at the end of your trip, a Missed Tap Off or Underpayment charge will be automatically applied within a few hours to your PRESTO card (physical or mobile) or your credit or debit card.

The charge is based on your trip, from where you boarded to the last stop on the train line or bus route. Your fare type and any eligible discounts are applied.

If there aren’t enough funds on your PRESTO card (physical or mobile), it may be temporarily blocked from use.

Note: PRESTO has updated its system. As a result, some older trips where you didn’t tap off and weren’t charged at the time may now appear in your PRESTO account. These charges are now being processed and may appear in your transaction history as “Fare Adjustment – Tap Off Not Detected,” with the charge deducted from your current card balance.

How to Avoid Missed Tap Offs

• Always check the screen on the Fare Payment machine when you tap your card on and off to ensure your tap was accepted and your fare is deducted
• Set a GO default trip on your physical PRESTO card, PRESTO in Mobile Wallet, physical credit card, physical debit card, or credit card on your mobile wallet, especially if you travel regularly between two train stations. A default trip means you only tap on at the beginning of your train trip and you don’t need to tap off at the end of your train trip
• Remember to always tap off at the end of your trip if you do not have a default trip set (because defaults are only for GO Trains, not GO Buses) and/or you override your default trip by pressing the "mode" button on the PRESTO device
• Pay careful attention to your PRESTO card’s balance since an underpayment will be deducted from that balance

Missed Tap Off Cost

If you don’t have a default set on your card and you forget to tap off at the end of your trip, you’ll be charged the fare to the last stop on the train line or bus route and with your fare type and any applicable loyalty discounts applied. This is because the PRESTO system doesn’t know where you’ve travelled to. If your physical PRESTO card, PRESTO in Mobile Wallet, physical credit card, physical debit card, or credit card on your mobile wallet has a default trip set for travel between two specified train stations, you only need to tap on. If you take a trip that begins or ends at a different station, you’ll need to tap on and off. If you forgot to tap off and the fare deducted from your physical PRESTO card, PRESTO in Mobile Wallet, or charged to your credit or debit card, is incorrect, you can request a refund by either calling the GO contact centre at 1-888-438-6646 or by filling out our webform.

• For any trips that start at Union Station, you’ll be charged the same amount as the cost of a trip to Kitchener
• For trips that start at stations on the Lakeshore East, Lakeshore West, Richmond Hill, Milton, Stouffville, Kitchener and Barrie lines, you’ll be charged the fare to the farthest station on that line

Below is a list of what station you’ll be charged to, on your line, if you forget to tap off: