I would like to make a Freedom of Information request to understand in the last 2 years of the congestion charge how much money was taken from customers who mistakenly thought they had entered the congestion charging zone and paid (due to the poor (or deliberate) design of the Payments website. How many payments over and above entries to the CC zone have been received?

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TfL Ref: FOI-0196-1819

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 19 April 2018 asking for information about the Congestion Charge.

Your request has been processed in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. You asked:

I would like to make a Freedom of Information request to understand in the last 2 years of the congestion charge how much money was taken from customers who mistakenly thought they had entered the congestion charging zone and paid (due to the poor (or deliberate) design of the Payments website.

How many payments over and above entries to the CC zone have been received?

The Congestion Charge operates using Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology. Each entry point to, and exit from, the Congestion Charge zone is clearly signed and as a vehicle either enters, leaves or drives within the zone its Vehicle Registration Mark is recorded along with an image of the vehicle. At the end of the next charging day, when the payment period has expired, the list of vehicles observed in the zone is compared against the vehicles for which a charge has been paid and those which are 100% discounted or exempt from the Congestion Charge. Where a match is found the image and record of the vehicle is deleted. If no match is found the details are retained for enforcement purposes.

As the records of all vehicles which have paid the Congestion Charge are deleted we do not keep a record of when a Congestion Charge payment has been made but the vehicle wasn’t driven in the zone during charging hours.

We do not record the number of charges which have been incorrectly purchased. This is because when a charge is purchased, it is the purchaser who nominates the vehicle and the date of travel; therefore we have no way of knowing if the customer had purchased the charge for the correct vehicle and correct date. We are only made aware that the wrong date or vehicle was entered if a purchaser informs us of their error. However, there is provision for a charge payment to be amended; should a customer purchase a charge for the wrong day or vehicle; this carries a small administration charge of £2.50 and charges can only be amended up to or on the day of travel.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely,

Melissa Nichols

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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