TfL Ref: 4615-1718

Thank you for your email received by us on 20 February 2018 asking for further information about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) and repayments in relation to your previous request (reference: 2989-1718).

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. You asked the following:

In regards to question 1:
you say you have 1,960 cases open. You report this would take 32.6 hours to process, at a cost of £25 per hour, and that this exceeds the £450 limit.
Based on your calculations, this would equate to you processing 60 cases per hour. £450 would pay for 18 hours work, which would thus allow you to process 1,080 cases. So I have re written the request now as follows:

1. Please state the amount TfL is currently due to pay back in mistakenly issued penalty charge fines, but has not yet paid for the most recent 1,080 cases possible

As previously explained, we issue PCNs when we have reason to believe a contravention occurred. All PCNs are subject to a statutory representations and appeals process. Should a driver believe the PCN was issued incorrectly, they can challenge the PCN. Should a driver pay a PCN and later have their representation accepted or appeal allowed, any payment will be refunded. Each challenge is considered on a case-by-case basis, including any mitigating circumstances. We have the discretion to cancel a PCN or refund all or part of a PCN payment for any reason, however this would not mean the PCN was issued incorrectly.

Having reviewed each of our 1,080 most recent cases, we can confirm that none of the PCNs were cancelled due to them being issued erroneously. As such, the amount due to be paid back is £0.

In the vast majority of these cases, the PCNs were cancelled on a discretionary ‘first time contravention’ basis. Other examples found of us cancelling PCNs, include Blue Badge holders being observed parked where prohibited but not displaying their Blue Badge; when a representation was made and sufficient proof provided, we exercised discretion to cancel the PCN although it was issued correctly. Another example we found of us applying discretion to cancel a PCN that was correctly issued was following a representation explaining that a customer purchased a Congestion Charge for either the incorrect date or for the incorrect vehicle on our website.

In all cases where a PCN has been paid and then we have cancelled it, we will issue a refund to the customer and this will be received within ten working days of our confirmation to them.

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