When a charge point charges while offline it sends the session to Monta on reconnect. What offline means, the timestamps you'll see, who pays (RFID, app, sponsored/home reimbursement, roaming, card), why idle fees aren't applied, and how to troubleshoot a charger that does it often.
Charge points sometimes lose their connection to Monta — a power cut, a dropped network, or a reboot. A charger can still deliver a charge while offline: it records the session in its own memory and sends it to Monta when it comes back online. This article explains why that happens, what you'll see on those charges, who pays, and how they're billed.
What "offline" means here
Your charge point talks to Monta over the internet (via OCPP). If that link drops — the router reboots, the mobile signal fades, the site loses power — the charger is offline: it can't reach Monta in real time. Many chargers are built to keep working anyway. They authorise and run the session locally, store the details, and then replay everything to Monta the moment they reconnect.
So an offline charge isn't a lost charge — it's a charge that arrives a little late, carrying the information the charger buffered while it was disconnected.
What happens, step by step
- The charge point loses its connection to Monta.
- A driver plugs in and charges. The charger authorises the session locally and records the times and the meter readings.
- The charger reconnects to Monta.
- It replays the session. The charge now appears in your account — dated to when the charging actually happened, not when the charger reconnected.
The timestamps you'll see
Monta keeps the charge point's own original times for the session — when charging started and stopped — rather than the moment it reconnected. That's deliberate: it reflects when energy was really delivered.
Example. A charger delivers a charge from 08:15 to 09:00, then loses power. It reconnects at 09:20 and sends the session. In Monta the charge shows a start of 08:15 and a stop of 09:00 (the real charging window), even though it only appeared in your account at ~09:20.
Those times are lightly cleaned up so the history always makes sense:
- A session can't start before the previous charge on the same connector ended.
- A session can't be dated in the future.
This protects the timeline even if a charger's internal clock drifted while it was offline.
Who pays for a charge recorded offline
Who's billed depends on how the driver authorised the charge — exactly as it would for an online charge:
| How the charge was started | Who pays | Works offline? |
|---|---|---|
| RFID key or the Monta app | That driver's or team's Monta wallet | Yes — billed on reconnect |
| Sponsored / home reimbursement | The sponsor (e.g. the employer) | Yes — settles to the sponsor on reconnect (immediately or on the monthly payout) |
| Free / owner charging | No one — it's free | Yes |
| Roaming (a driver from another network) | The driver's home network | Can't start offline — roaming needs an online check first; a mid-session drop is reconciled and billed afterwards |
| Credit card / payment terminal | The card | Can't start offline — a card charge needs an online authorisation (a hold) before it begins |
In short: a charge recorded offline is always billed to a wallet (RFID/app), to a sponsor, or is free. It's never charged to a card after the fact — cards and roaming both need the charger to be online at the start.
How these charges are billed
| Charge component | Applied? |
|---|---|
| Energy (kWh) | Yes — billed as normal from the charger's meter readings. |
| Start / session fees | Yes — as configured in your tariff. |
| Idle fee (time plugged in after charging finishes) | No — not applied to a charge that was stopped while the charger was offline. |
The energy is measured from the charger's own meter, so the kWh (and the price for it) are accurate even for an offline session.
Why idle fees aren't applied
An idle fee charges for the time a car stays plugged in after it has finished charging. Monta can only measure that reliably when the charge point is online and reports the exact moment the cable is unplugged. When a session was stopped while the charger was offline, Monta never received that unplug signal — so it can't prove how long the car actually sat idle, and it deliberately doesn't charge an idle fee it can't substantiate. This protects your drivers from incorrect idle charges and avoids disputes.
How to recognise one
The clearest sign is the timing: the charge's start and stop times sit earlier than when it appeared in your account (it landed when the charger reconnected). You may also see a charge with no idle fee even though the car was plugged in for a while — that's the safeguard above, not a mistake.
Is this common?
It's a small share of charges — typically a few percent across a fleet — and it tends to cluster on specific chargers with unstable power or connectivity. A charge point that produces many offline sessions is usually pointing at a real-world issue at that site.
If one charger does this a lot
Frequent offline sessions on the same charge point are worth investigating:
- Connectivity — check the charger's internet connection (Wi-Fi signal, SIM/mobile coverage, router). A weak or intermittent link is the most common cause.
- Power — repeated reboots or undervoltage can knock a charger offline mid-session; check the supply at the site.
- Impact — while a charger charges offline it can't take card or roaming payments, and idle fees won't apply, so improving its connection restores full functionality and more accurate timestamps.
What it means for your reports
Offline charges appear in your normal charge lists and reports once they're received, dated to when the charging happened. Because they arrive on reconnect, a charge can show up in a period slightly after the moment it was delivered — worth keeping in mind when reconciling a specific day or a charger that was offline for a while.
Frequently asked questions
Did the driver still get charged the right amount for energy? Yes — kWh come from the charger's meter and are billed normally. Only the idle fee is affected.
Why is there no idle fee on this charge? Because the charger was offline when the session stopped, Monta didn't receive the unplug signal and won't charge an idle fee it can't prove.
Can a driver pay by card at a charger that's offline? No — a card charge needs an online authorisation before it starts, so the charger must be online to accept a card. The same is true for roaming drivers from another network.
Will an employer-sponsored (home reimbursement) charge still work offline? Yes — sponsored charges don't need a card or a live check, so they charge offline and settle to the sponsor once the session reaches Monta.
Do I need to do anything? No — this is automatic. If a specific charge point does it often, look at its connectivity and power.
Need help?
If a specific charge or charge point looks wrong, contact Monta support from your Hub with the charge or charge point details.