GIVE DRIVERS FIVE DAYS TO PAY: London airports urged to end short drop-off deadlines before motorists face £100 notices

Flex Taxis Ltd has launched a public campaign calling for motorists to be given five days to pay drop-off charges at London’s major airports before they face a Parking Charge Notice of up to £100.

The licensed private-hire operator is seeking changes at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton airports, where motorists generally have until midnight on the day after their visit to pay the applicable charge.

Depending on the time of entry, drivers may have approximately 24 to 48 hours to complete payment.

The petition, titled “Stop Treating Humans as Paying Robots: Give Drivers Five Days to Pay London Airport Drop-Off Charges”, argues that the existing deadlines leave insufficient time to detect failed transactions or resolve genuine payment difficulties.

Several airport drop-off systems operate without barriers and use Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras to record vehicles entering charging areas. Drivers must subsequently pay online or rely on an AutoPay account linked to a registered bank card.

Flex Taxis said it accepts that airport access charges must be paid, but believes motorists should receive a reasonable opportunity to correct an accidental omission before a penalty is issued.

The operator said it encountered the problem after a bank card registered to an airport AutoPay account was lost and cancelled. A replacement took five days to arrive, during which an airport payment failed. Because the payment was not completed by midnight the following day, a £100 Parking Charge Notice was issued.

Flex Taxis said: “The driver had not deliberately avoided paying. The transaction failed because the bank card registered for AutoPay had been cancelled and its replacement had not yet arrived.

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“A missed or failed payment does not necessarily mean that someone intended to avoid the charge. Drivers should have a reasonable opportunity to identify and correct an honest mistake.”

The company is asking airports, their parking-management contractors and the Department for Transport to introduce a 120-hour payment period. It also wants email or text reminders sent while a payment remains outstanding, including a final warning at least 24 hours before the deadline.

Further proposed changes include repeated alerts when an AutoPay transaction fails and a final opportunity to pay the original drop-off fee before a Parking Charge Notice is issued. Flex Taxis said the measures would retain the charges while separating deliberate non-payment from errors, failed transactions and temporary banking problems.

Other problems identified by the operator include expired or replaced cards, notifications entering spam folders, internet disruption and incorrect vehicle registration details. It said drivers could also miss payment deadlines because of medical emergencies, bereavements or the need to assist elderly, disabled or vulnerable passengers.

Flex Taxis has compared airport arrangements with Transport for London’s Congestion Charge and Ultra Low Emission Zone payment periods. TfL allows motorists to pay those charges by midnight on the third day after travel, while the operator wants airports to offer five days because obtaining a replacement payment card can take longer.

The campaign is intended to cover all motorists rather than only taxi and private-hire drivers. Families, carers, older motorists, holidaymakers and people collecting or assisting vulnerable passengers may be less familiar with barrierless charging systems and the requirement to pay online after leaving an airport.

Flex Taxis said: “This is not only a taxi and private-hire trade issue. Any member of the public can miss a payment deadline, experience a failed transaction or discover that a registered bank card has expired.

“Real people do not behave like machines. They lose cards, experience emergencies, overlook emails and make honest mistakes.”

For professional drivers, airport drop-off fees form part of wider operating costs that include fuel, vehicle rental or finance, insurance, licensing and maintenance. Flex Taxis said an accidental failure to pay a comparatively small access charge should not automatically create a liability of up to £100.

The operator is seeking support from taxi and private-hire drivers, trade

bodies, consumer and disability organisations, MPs and members of the public. The petition asks airports to retain their existing charges but provide more time, stronger reminders and a final payment opportunity before enforcement.

Flex Taxis said: “We are not asking for free airport drop-offs. We are asking for fairness, five days to pay, proper reminders and an opportunity to correct an honest mistake before a small drop-off charge becomes a demand of up to £100.”