Request ID: FOI-2210-2324 Date published: 19 October 2023
You asked
To whom it may concern,
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I request the following information:
1. The total number of requests for refunds from people who have paid ULEZ charges, broken down by year.
2. The total number of requests for refunds from people who have paid ULEZ charges, broken down by year, that were successful (ie. following which a refund was paid).
3. The total sum of money paid in refunds to people who have paid ULEZ charges, broken down by year.
And;
All three above requests for information again, but for the figures from vehicles registered to Berkshire addresses alone.
If possible, this information should be made available to me in electronic form.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-2210-2324
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 22nd September 2023 asking for information about requests for refunds from people who have paid ULEZ charges.
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 the information you require. Your questions are answered in turn below:
Question 1) The total number of requests for refunds from people who have paid ULEZ charges, broken down by year.
Answer: Note that the UELZ was launched on 8 April 2019 and covered the same area as the Congestion Charging Zone. On 25 October 2021 it was extended up to, but not including, the North and South Circular Roads. On 29 August 2023 it was extended to cover the whole of greater London. The Low Emission Zone Scheme Order, which outlines how the ULEZ must operate, does not facilitate the refunding of daily charge payments.
The table below details the number of requests for a refund of a ULEZ daily charge payment. To put the figures into context, the total number of charge payments is also provided.
Year
Number of ULEZ Refund Requests
Total Charges valid for travel
2019
23,897
11,081,354
2020
22,472
13,545,045
2021
21,946
17,422,273
2022
50,356
16,401,638
2023*
39,566
11,634,044
Grand Total
158,237
70,084,354
*up to 8 October 2023
Question 2) The total number of requests for refunds from people who have paid ULEZ charges, broken down by year, that were successful (ie. following which a refund was paid).
And;
Question 3) The total sum of money paid in refunds to people who have paid ULEZ charges, broken down by year.
And;
Question 4) All three above requests for information again, but for the figures from vehicles registered to Berkshire addresses alone.
Answer: It is not possible to source the information to answer these questions within the costs limit for responding to FOI cases, as set out under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act. Under section 12, TfL is not required to provide information if it would cost more than £450 to determine if the information is held, and to then locate, retrieve or extract it from elsewhere. This is calculated at a rate of £25 per hour, equivalent to 18 hours work.
In this instance the exemption applies because the information has not been collated before and there is no quick, efficient or automated way of doing so. Rather, in order to provide this information we would have to manually review each individual refund request. Due to the volumes involved, this is not possible within the costs limit. To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider narrowing its scope.
If this is not the information you are looking for 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,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
