London taxi driver escapes fines totalling over £1,000 after racking up TEN Congestion Charge PCNs

A London taxi driver escaped multiple fines totalling over £1,000 after racking up TEN Congestion Charge penalty notices whilst working in his black cab.

Taxis and private hire vehicles licensed as wheelchair accessible are usually exempt from paying the Congestion Charge in London, however due to the pandemic and a temporary change in licensing rules the cab driver fell foul of the charge.

For anyone forgetting to pay the Congestion Charge, they can expect to receive a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for £160. Everyone receiving the fine will need to pay within 28 days. If however the recipient of the fine pays within 14 days, they will receive a 50% discount and only have to pay £80.

A representative from the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA) was able to overturn the fines which could have totalled a whopping £1,600.

Lloyd Baldwin, LTDA Executive S.O, said: “I recently helped a driver, who racked up ten congestion charge PCNs. Like many people, he was unable to renew his plate in April when it expired and the NSL centres were shut. So, Transport for London (TfL) extended it for six months. He then completely forgot about it and headed into central to try and find some work one day, forgetting it had now expired.

“As anyone in this situation should be aware, if you were given an extension when the test centres closed last time and your plate is up again soon, you do have to get it done now and can’t have another extension. Whereas anyone whose plate is just about to expire and has not had an extension can get one. Apparently, they are doing

it this way to prevent a huge backlog building up.

“When the driver came to me asking for help, I decided the best way to handle it was to appeal all ten tickets in one go for maximum impact, as it was obvious no one would get into this situation on purpose!

“I wrote a covering letter to TfL explaining what had happened and asking for leniency under the circumstances and the dire financial situation most drivers find themselves in. Thankfully, it worked, and the tickets were cancelled.”