Request ID: FOI-0719-2324 Date published: 14 June 2023
You asked
Please provide a Process diagram and Standard Operating Procedure documentation of the system of generating congestion charging fixed penalty notices i.e. following failure to recognize a vehicle as registered in the TFL database, how and how rapidly and by whom is data passed to DVLA requesting registered owner details, and how and when is a penalty charge notice issued.
Please provide statistics on the congestion charge penalty charge notices issued per month in January ,February ,March and April 2023, data should contain the following parameters:
1) Total penalty charge Notices per month.
2) Total penalty charge penalty payments received each month at £90, £180, and at £270. It is recognized that the timing of payments received will not be consistent for this initial investigation..
Please provide data to allow presentation in the following format:
Table 1
Frequency distribution of the days between date of offence and date of issue of the penalty charge notice for each of the four months in this initial data request..
Table 2
Frequency distribution of days between date of issue of a penalty charge notice and payment of the penalty charge.. Timing on this should be a) within 2 days b) within one week c) within 14 days d) within 30 days e) challenged, f) greater than 30 days g) not paid.
We answered
Our ref: FOI-0719-2324/GH
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 17 May 2023 asking for information about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs).
Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy. I can confirm that we do hold some of the information you require.
Please provide a Process diagram and Standard Operating Procedure documentation of the system of generating congestion charging fixed penalty notices i.e. following failure to recognize a vehicle as registered in the TFL database, how and how rapidly and by whom is data passed to DVLA requesting registered owner details, and how and when is a penalty charge notice issued.
We do not hold a process document or diagram outlining how a Penalty Charge Notice is issued.
It may be useful if I outline how we operate the Congestion Charging scheme. The scheme operates using Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology. Each entry point to, and exit from, the zones are clearly signed and as a vehicle enters, leaves, or drives within the zone its registration is recorded along with an image of the vehicle.
When the three day 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, exempt from the charges or listed on an Auto Pay account. 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.
Following this we then contact the DVLA in order to obtain the details of the registered keeper and the vehicle. Prior to issuing a penalty we manually verify that the vehicle description provide by the DVLA matches the vehicle image which we hold. Once verified the PCN is issued.
There is no legal requirements in terms of the timeframes in which we issue a Congestion Charging PCN however they will usually be issued within 7-10 days of the journey.
Please provide statistics on the congestion charge penalty charge notices issued per month in January ,February ,March and April 2023, data should contain the following parameters: 1) Total penalty charge Notices per month.
For January – April 2023 we issued PCNs for non-payment of the Congestion Charge as below:
Month
PCNs Issued
Jan
66,557
Feb
64,835
Mar
72,767
Apr
71,237
Total
275,396
2) Total penalty charge penalty payments received each month at £90, £180, and at £270. It is recognized that the timing of payments received will not be consistent for this initial investigation..
Please find below the number of PCNs paid at each at the amounts requested. These are PCNs paid in full at these amounts:
Amount
PCNs Paid
£90
128,382
£180
38,665
£270
3,267
Total
170,314
Please provide data to allow presentation in the following format: Table 1 Frequency distribution of the days between date of offence and date of issue of the penalty charge notice for each of the four months in this initial data request..
Please see below for average days per month between contravention date and PCN issue date:
Month
Average days
Jan
8
Feb
8
Mar
8
Apr
7
Total
8
Table 2 Frequency distribution of days between date of issue of a penalty charge notice and payment of the penalty charge.. Timing on this should be a) within 2 days b) within one week c) within 14 days d) within 30 days e) challenged, f) greater than 30 days g) not paid.
Please see this information below. This is for PCNs status of “paid” and from the issued date and the closed date of the PCN.
Month
0-2 Days
3-7 Days
8-14 Days
15-30 Days
31+ Days
Total
Jan
868
14,558
16,403
8,204
4,213
44,246
Feb
973
13,203
16,301
8,091
3,360
41,928
Mar
1,011
13,314
18,151
10,214
3,237
45,927
Apr
879
12,392
19,259
9,474
1,745
43,749
Total
3,731
53,467
70,114
35,983
12,555
175,850
For PCNs not paid we have included all PCNs which have not been paid in full:
Month
No of PCNs
Jan
22,311
Feb
22,907
Mar
26,840
Apr
27,488
Total
99,546
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Graham Hurt
FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
