Congestion Charge fines for foreign registered vehicles
Request ID: FOI-1668-1819
Date published: 19 October 2018
You asked
1. How many foreign-registered cars have been fined for not paying the London Congestion Charge between 1st August 2017 and the 31st July 2018? Please can this result be broken down into the individual nationality of where the vehicle was registered – e.g Russian, French etc.
2. Of all these cars (including nationality of the car), how many of the fines were paid and how many were not paid in the same time period (1st August 2017 – 31st July 2018) ?
3. How many foreign-registered HGVs have been fined for not paying the London Congestion Charge between 1st August 2017 and the 31st July 2018? Please can this result be broken down into the individual nationality of where the HGV was registered – e.g Russian, French etc.
4. Of all these HGVs (including nationality of the HGV), how many of the fines were paid and how many were not paid in the same time period (1st August 2017 – 31st July 2018) ?
We answered
TfL Ref: 1668-1819
Thank you for your email received by us on 21 September 2018 asking for information about foreign vehicles and Congestion Charge payments.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require.
Foreign registered vehicles are subject to the Congestion Charge in the same way as those registered in the UK and we accept payment of the Congestion Charge for these vehicles. In cases when the charge isn’t paid, the European Parking Collection PLC (EPC) has been authorised to act on our behalf in administering the issuing of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) to the keepers of vehicles registered outside the UK. By employing EPC, we have significantly increased the amount of debts recovered from countries outside of the UK.
However, there is still difficulty in identifying the drivers of non-UK vehicles, principally because no legal framework exists to allow civil debts incurred in a foreign country to be transferred to the court system of the resident country.
Transport for London (TfL) is continuing to work with its service provider to increase the availability of foreign registered keeper information and to constantly improve the level of service and collection rates.
The attached table details the number of Congestion Charging PCNs issued to foreign registered vehicles between 1 August 2017 and 31 July 2018. It also lists the number of penalties paid along with the country of registration of the contravening vehicle
We do not distinguish between cars and Heavy Good Vehicles (HGVs) and therefore the table is for all vehicles.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely
Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Officer
Information Governance
Transport For London
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