Guidance

Public transport ticketing schemes block exemption guidance

Competition law guidelines for operators, local authorities and administrators on the public transport ticketing schemes block exemption.

• From: Competition and Markets Authority
• Published: 16 September 2016
• Last updated: 9 January 2026 — See all updates

Documents

Guidance on the public transport ticketing schemes block exemption

Ref: CMA53

PDF, 592 KB, 67 pages

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Transport ticketing schemes: what’s allowed under competition law

Ref: CMA53(a)

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Details

Public transport ticketing schemes allow consumers to buy tickets that can be used across multiple public transport operators.

This guidance helps operators, local authorities and scheme administrators when assessing new and existing ticketing schemes for public transport. It also helps them to decide whether their multi-operator schemes are within the scope of the block exemption.

This guidance covers:

• ticketing schemes covered by the scope of the block exemption
• legal conditions and obligations for schemes covered by the block exemption to make sure they comply with competition law
• agreements falling outside the block exemption

The CMA has updated this guidance following a consultation.

Find out more about this block exemption.

Published 16 September 2016

Last updated 9 January 2026 + show all updates

1. 9 January 2026

   Updated guidance published.

2. 16 September 2016

   First published.