Taipei Metro deducts NT$20 from an EasyCard when you enter and exit the same station more than 15 minutes apart, or take more than 2 hours between different stations. EasyCard's own page states both limits, read on 17 September 2026. The NT$20 is the minimum single fare and is excluded from the Frequent Passenger cashback tally.
Because you stayed inside the paid area too long. EasyCard's English page on how the card works, read on 17 September 2026, says the Taipei Metro system will automatically deduct NT$20 from the card if you take more than 15 minutes going in and out of the same station, or more than 2 hours entering and exiting different stations. EasyCard attributes the rule to Article 11 of the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation Passenger Transport Rules.
The current Chinese text of those rules, published as a PDF on Taipei Metro's own site, carries the same two limits under point 14. It adds two details the EasyCard page leaves out. The clock runs from the moment you pass the fare gate into the paid area until you leave it, and the amount taken is defined as the operator's published minimum single journey fare, not a fixed penalty. Today that minimum is NT$20, which is why the deduction is NT$20. If the minimum fare ever changes, the charge follows it.
The rules also say the charge is waived when the overstay is the operator's fault, for example a service suspension that keeps you inside the gates. In that case the gate should not deduct, and if it does, the information counter is where the correction happens.
There are two separate clocks, and which one applies depends only on where you tap out.
| Where you exit | Maximum time inside the gates | What the gate takes |
|---|---|---|
| Same station you entered | 15 minutes | NT$20 after the limit per EasyCard's page. The rules' point 15 separately prices any same-station exit at the minimum single fare |
| A different station | 2 hours | NT$20 on top of the fare for the journey |
| Either, when the delay is Taipei Metro's fault | No limit applies | Nothing, correct any deduction at the information counter |
No, and this is the part no operator page says plainly in English. Taipei Metro runs a Frequent Passenger Program for stored-value cards such as EasyCard. The Chinese programme page, updated 19 January 2026 and read on 17 September 2026, sets the scheme running from 3 January 2026 and pays a cash rebate the following month based on how many trips you completed. 11 to 20 trips in a month earn 5% of that month's accumulated fares, 21 to 40 trips earn 10%, and 41 or more earn 15%. The rebate loads onto the card the first time you pass a gate in the next month.
The same page states that the minimum single fare amount collected for exceeding the stay limit, and it names both limits, 15 minutes at the same station and 2 hours between different stations, is not added to the accumulated fare total. So a visitor who racks up 11 trips in a month and would have earned 5% back on every fare gets nothing back on the NT$20 taken at the gate for a wrong-station tap-out. The charge is real money out and zero money back.
Two other exclusions matter to visitors. Contactless credit cards and phone wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay are not in the programme at all, according to the same page, so with those the cashback question never arises but the NT$20 still does. Tourist day passes and the TPASS monthly pass are also excluded.
The 15 minute clock is generous enough for a plain mistake, provided you act instead of wandering. The Passenger Transport Rules add, at point 15, that someone who enters and exits the same station pays the minimum single fare, but that station staff can help in special situations, with borrowing the toilet given as the example, or when a passenger wants to switch to a different card before exiting.
Yes. The rules are written for any ticket, not for EasyCard alone. Point 14 says a passenger who breaks either limit pays the minimum single fare, either at the information counter or by automatic deduction at the gate. With a stored-value card the gate deducts. With a single journey token or a day pass the gate has no balance to take from, so the counter collects it. With a contactless bank card the deduction shows up on your statement as a separate NT$20 line, and since bank cards are outside the cashback scheme there is no rebate to soften it.
For anyone comparing this with other systems on the site, the same touch-out logic drives the London missed touch-out charge, where a missing tap is priced at a maximum fare rather than a minimum one, and Amsterdam's single-use smartcard surcharge, where the penalty is on the ticket format rather than on time. Taipei is the mild case. Twenty New Taiwan dollars is the price of the shortest ride on the network, and the operator's own example on the programme page prices a Taipei City Hall to Taipei Main Station trip at exactly NT$20.
Luggage is the usual reason visitors linger inside the gates. If you are checking a bag into a station locker, do it outside the paid area, and see the luggage storage guide for how locker pricing works in Asian stations.
Every number above was read on 17 September 2026 from three sources. EasyCard Corporation's English page gives the NT$20 deduction and the 15 minute and 2 hour limits. Taipei Metro's Chinese Frequent Passenger Program page gives the rebate tiers, the January 2026 start date and the exclusion of the overstay charge from the accumulated fare. The Passenger Transport Rules PDF on metro.taipei gives the underlying clauses, including the fault exception and the toilet exception. Taipei Metro's English site sat behind a bot-protection wall when we tried it, so the English guide PDF listed in the brief could not be checked and is not cited.
The one discrepancy worth flagging is the article number. EasyCard's page cites Article 11, while the rules PDF now on Taipei Metro's site numbers the clause 14. The wording and the limits match, so the numbering has simply moved as the rules were amended. We record the figure and its source URL on each page and re-check on the schedule described in our methodology.
If you are arranging data before you land, a travel eSIM lets you check your card record on Taipei Metro's site from the platform rather than after the fact. The how a travel eSIM works guide covers what to set up before departure.
You passed the fare gate in and back out at the same station more than 15 minutes apart. EasyCard's page, read 17 September 2026, says the system automatically deducts NT$20 in that case. The rules define the amount as the minimum single fare, so it moves only if the minimum fare does.
Fifteen minutes if you exit where you entered, two hours if you exit anywhere else. Both limits are in the Passenger Transport Rules and repeated on EasyCard's page. The clock runs from passing the entry gate to passing the exit gate. Delays caused by the operator are exempt.
No. Taipei Metro's Frequent Passenger Program page, updated 19 January 2026, states that the minimum single fare collected for exceeding the stay limit is not added to the accumulated fare used to calculate the 5%, 10% or 15% monthly rebate. You lose the NT$20 and earn nothing back on it.
The rules list toilet use as a special situation station staff can handle, but they attach it to the information counter, not the gate. Ask at the counter before you tap out. Once the gate has deducted, you are asking for a correction after the fact, and the outcome depends on staff.
Yes. The rules apply to every ticket type. A stored-value card is charged at the gate, a token or pass holder settles at the counter, and a contactless bank card shows a separate NT$20 line on the statement. Bank cards and tourist passes are outside the cashback scheme, so there is no rebate on them anyway.