In 2023, the Group's Mediation department received 4,922 referrals, reaching its highest level ever, a sharp increase (+27%) on the previous year and an increase of 86% in two years.

The proportion of complaints relating to fines has fallen slightly, but remains in the majority, accounting for 79% of the total. 20% of referrals are related to consumer mediation, compared with 16% in 2022.

3,299 referrals were admissible, i.e. 67% (up 10 points on last year). The increase in online referrals has boosted admissibility.

The average time taken to issue an opinion increased from 46 to 59 days, due to the sharp rise in the number of cases examined.

46% of the opinions issued by the Mediation officer were entirely favorable to the customer, compared with 52% last year. The more systematic recourse to mediation, following information of this possibility provided by Customer Services, leads the Mediation officer to handle cases that would not otherwise have been sent. 9% were partially favorable, not responding favorably to all the points raised by the customer; 43% were unfavorable to the customer, and 2% were neutral opinions, in other words informative.

 Finally, Médiation has made 14 recommendations to the Group for 2023. Some of these concern new media such as the Navigo Easy pass, or the invoicing of season tickets. Others relate to the discernment of ticket inspectors or to a lack of information, putting certain passengers, particularly occasional ones, in a situation of involuntary infringement.

The Group's Mediation department received 3,889 complaints in 2022, a sharp increase (+47%) on the previous year. The proportion of complaints relating to fines returned to a high level, representing 82% of the total. This trend is linked to the upturn in traffic on the networks. Only 57% of referrals were admissible, compared with 66% in 2022. This decline can be explained in part by the increase in mail referrals in 2022. Internet referrals are more likely to be accepted, thanks to the questions that guide claimants in formulating their requests. In 2022, 71% of referrals received via the Internet were admissible, compared with only 20% of those received by post. The average time taken to issue an opinion has increased slightly, from 41 to 46 days, due to the larger number of files to be processed. 62% of the opinions issued are favourable to the customer, with a wide variation depending on the reason for the dispute. Lastly, the Mediation department made recommendations to the Group on 17 topics. Some of these concern new media such as the Navigo Easy pass, or digital tickets. Others relate to a lack of information, putting certain passengers, particularly occasional ones, in a situation of involuntary infringement, or to the use of transport with a baby carriage, bicycle or scooter.

The Group Mediation received 2,641 referrals in 2021, a figure broadly equivalent to the previous year.

The proportion of referrals related to fines returned to a level closer to that of 2019, with 70% of the total. This evolution is linked to both the recovery of traffic on the networks and the end of the large restitution operations that marked 2020.

66% of referrals were admissible, compared with 72% in 2020. This decline can be explained in part by the increase in referrals by mail in 2021, after a decline in 2020 linked to the decrease in postal mail during the periods of confinement. The admissibility of referrals is greater via the Internet, thanks to the questions that guide the applicant in formulating his request.

The average time taken to issue an opinion has been significantly reduced, from 61 to 41 days, thanks to the performance of the new management tools and the mobilization of the Mediation team. This faster processing is important for claimants, who come to mediation at the end of an often complicated process.

Finally, the Mediation has made recommendations to the Group on 14 topics. Some of them concern intra-community tickets, such as the suspension of an annual Navigo pass, the overlapping of passes, the overcharging of Navigo Liberté+ and Easy... Others relate to improving communication on certain points, such as the length of validity of a ticket, the purchase of a ticket by SMS... Lastly, others deal with various themes, such as the application of free travel for companions of people with disabilities, but also the transportation of a bicycle in the RER or the return of lost objects.

Download the RATP Mediation officer's report (in French)

The Mediation officer received 2,602 referrals in 2020. Down 16% from the previous year, this figure is strongly correlated with the drop in ridership on the carrier's networks due to the health crisis. Another consequence is that fines only concern a little more than half of the cases handled.

The exceptional context of this year, 2020, has generated massive operations on subscriptions, in terms of compensation and requests for suspension, in line with the health measures. A large proportion of the disputes referred to the Mediation officer concerned season tickets managed by the Navigo or Imagine R agency of the Comutitres economic interest grouping, which brings together the various Île-de-France transport companies on behalf of Île-de-France Mobilités.

Its decisions were favorable or partially favorable to customers in 65% of the cases handled.

For the record, the main reasons for non-admissibility are of 4 types: referral outside the Mediation officer's jurisdiction, rejection of the Mediation officer (failure by the complainant to provide the documents requested by the Mediation officer) and concerning offences, early referral (the customer service was not previously referred to), late referral (made after the two-month period following the offence).

Download the RATP Mediation officer's report

With 3,112 referrals received in 2019, there were fewer requests than in 2018, which will remain an atypical year.
They are nevertheless 10% higher than in 2017.
At the same time, the average time to issue an opinion was 55 days, compared with 77 days in 2018.

Download the RATP Mediation officer's report (in French)

Emmanuelle Guyavarch has been appointed Mediator of the RATP Group, replacing Betty Chappe, who has held the position of Mediator of the RATP Group since March 23, 2015. 

 

In order to ensure that the areas of intervention of each party are perfectly clear, a new protocol with Mr Jean-Luc Dufournaud, SNCF Mediator, and Betty Chappe, RATP Group Mediator, was signed on 30 September 2021. For more than twenty years, the successive and respective Mediators of the RATP and the SNCF have been working together to guide customers in the most efficient and transparent way towards the Mediator competent to examine their dispute. This protocol reaffirms their desire to make their respective areas of intervention perfectly clear, and updates their areas of intervention. In order to better inform consumers, it is available on the websites dedicated to each of the two Mediators. 

 

The Tourism and Travel Mediator’s (MTV) jurisdiction covers all disputes between a consumer and an urban or inter-urban transport operator belonging to the French National Passenger Transport Federation (FNTV) or the French Public and Rail Transport Union (UTP), where the dispute in question falls outside the jurisdiction of the SNCF Mediator (see MTV/SNCF protocol) and the RATP Group Mediator. A list of companies covered by the Tourism and Travel Mediator is published on its website. The Tourism and Travel Mediator will inform the RATP Group Mediator of any change in its remit occurring after this protocol enters into force.

Since RATP Dev has opted to use the RATP Group Mediator for its subsidiaries in France, the agreement was an important step in clarifying the mediators’ respective roles.

The RATP Group Mediator’s jurisdiction covers disputes:

•    Between RATP EPIC, acting on its own behalf as a passenger public transport operator, and its customers.
•    Between direct or indirect French subsidiaries of RATP EPIC with a contractual agreement to the use the RATP Group Mediator, and their customers. The list of relevant subsidiaries is published on the RATP Group Mediator’s website. The RATP Group Mediator will inform the Tourism and Travel Mediator of any change in its remit occurring after this protocol enters into force.
•    If one of the mediators receives a referral that falls under the jurisdiction of the other, it will pass on the case to the second mediator, immediately and free of charge, after first having informed the customer.

 

•  

SNCF Mediator Bernard Cieutat and RATP Group Mediator Betty Chappe have signed an agreement to make their respective areas of jurisdiction even clearer for customers.

Successive RATP Group and SNCF Mediators have been working together, for over 20 years, to refer customers to the Mediator with the authority to investigate their dispute, in a spirit of efficiency and transparency.

The two Mediators have today decided to sign a protocol to make their respective areas of jurisdiction even clearer for customers.

In the interest of transparency, the agreement will be published on the websites of both Mediators.
The RATP Group Mediator’s jurisdiction covers disputes:

•    Between RATP EPIC, acting on its own behalf as a passenger public transport operator, and its customers.
•    Between direct or indirect French subsidiaries of RATP EPIC with a contractual agreement to the use the RATP Group Mediator, and their customers. The list of relevant subsidiaries is published on the RATP Group Mediator’s website. The RATP Group Mediator will inform the Tourism and Travel Mediator of any change in its remit occurring after this protocol enters into force.
•    If one of the mediators receives a referral that falls under the jurisdiction of the other, it will pass on the case to the second mediator, immediately and free of charge, after first having informed the customer.

 

The RATP Group Mediator’s Annual Report is online.

>> Download the RATP Mediator’s report