Touch in at any station and touch out at any other validator at that station within two minutes. You will be charged £4.60 (more at peak times) but if the station has an OSI (out of station interchange) and you then complete a proper journey with a valid OSI within the given time, the fare will be adjusted to the correct amount.
Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
Here goes.
Touch in at a gateline and touch out within 2 minutes and you will get an unfinished journey charge. This will be cancelled if you touch in again at the same or any other station within 45 minutes as long as you haven't used a bus in the meantime. If you don't touch back in then the charge will not count towards the daily cap.
Touch in and touch out between 2 and 30 minutes and you will be charged the minimum fare applicable from that station at the time of touch in. This charge will count towards the daily cap.
Touch in and out at the same station but more than 30 minutes apart without any other touches and you will be assumed to have made two incomplete journeys and be charged accordingly. Neither will count towards the daily cap.
Now to the article. I'm a little peeved as I spent nearly half an hour talking to this guy on the phone last night and all I got was a somewhat out of context quote from the end of the conversation. Anyway, it
is a standard same station exit because the first time he tried it (just before he called me) he must have taken more than 2 minutes between Praed Street and the Lawn as his balance went down by £2. What I don't know is whether having touched in and out within 2 minutes the system confirms your balance at the lower figure when you touch back in, then adjusts it properly at the end of the journey. It may be that this is a complete non-story. I do know that if you exit Finsbury Park LU without touching out on the validators and the enter the NR station through the gates the display does confirm your balance less the entry charge, but it does work it out correctly at the end.