A London taxi driver escaped multiple fines totalling over £8,000 after racking up FIFTY TWO 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 an administrative error a concerned cabbie was accused of falling foul of the charge.
According to the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA), the capital’s regulators Transport for London (TfL) failed to accept that the vehicle was in fact a licensed black cab which meant a steady flow on Congestion Charge fines were delivered to the beleaguered cabbie.
In total 52 fines were sent to the increasingly worried black cab driver, amounting to £8,320 or potentially £12,480 if paid outside of the 28-day payment time frame.
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.
If the penalty charge is not fully paid within 28 days of the date of service, then the penalty charge you have to pay increases by 50% of the full penalty charge to £240. A Charge Certificate is then sent to the registered keeper of the vehicle.
Eventually all tickets were rescinded after LTDA driver representatives contacted a senior member of TfL to explain the ongoing situation.
Anthony Street, LTDA Executive, said via TAXI Newspaper: “The London Congestion Charge was first introduced in 2003 by the then Mayor of London, Ken Livingston. 18 years on you would have thought that by now the system would be able to recognise a licensed taxi, which is exempt, and that the team administering the scheme would be properly trained and well-informed.
“As we all know, taxis are exempt from paying the congestion charge when actively licensed by Transport for London, but when a vehicle has been removed from the register, this exemption no longer applies.
“A member recently contacted us as he was wrongly receiving Congestion Charge tickets and could not seem to resolve the matter with TfL through the usual channels, despite the fact that his cab was appropriately licensed and the tickets were clearly being issued incorrectly.
“This member had followed the correct appeals procedure stating that his cab was licensed but his appeals kept being refused. He had tried to contact TfL and speak to someone directly about the matter but was getting nowhere and in the meantime more and more CC tickets were landing on his front door mat. By the time I spoke with him, he had racked up 52 tickets in total, at a cost of £8,320 or potentially £12,480, if he had to pay the full amount without the early payment discount.
“Even though TfL has the option for you to email or live chat with a team member, his pleas seemed to be getting lost or were at least falling on deaf ears. It was a classic computer says no situation. They just kept telling him his taxi was not licensed.
“He was extremely frustrated and concerned about the mounting tickets when he contacted us. We were able to swiftly put a plan into action and resolve it. We got in touch with a senior team member at TfL, cutting through the bureaucracy and all the tickets were rescinded.”
