Ask Honest John Question of the Week: How would pay-per-mile be introduced?

David Ross, Editor
Fri, 30 Aug 2024

Dear Honest John,

"With the Government considering pay-per-mile tax to replace fuel duty, how would it be enforced? Some dodgy people have apps and software that can roll back vehicle mileages. I have heard that some vehicle manufacturers can retrieve the vehicles true mileage through their software - is this true?

- MS

Dear MS,

Recent news reports have suggested that the Government is considering pay-per-mile taxation, but there has been no official guidance issued by the Government and the story was based on comments by a former Government chief of staff suggesting that the Treasury had previously requested preparatory work to be carried out into the implementation of such a scheme - even during the previous administration.

The reality is that Vehicle Excise Duty will require some kind of reform in the future as revenue raised by fuel duty will fall as electric vehicles become more commonplace, and road pricing could be a solution to this. How the system would work is still a matter of speculation.

It is possible that vehicles could be configured to transmit data to receivers to provide the required mileage information, but for older vehicles without telemetry and a data connection this would require additional hardware.

Another possibility is that a camera system could track vehicle movements, similar to the system used by ULEZ and congestion zones, but this would require a network of cameras to cover the entire UK road system which is impractical, as well as potentially raising privacy concerns.

Whatever method is implemented, should such a scheme be introduced, it is inevitable that some individuals will try to avoid or cheat the system, but it is likely there will be hefty penalties for those who do so.

Adjusting a vehicle's mileage is unlikely to be sufficient to avoid a road pricing scheme. Manufacturers of modern vehicles do have some capabilities in respect of retrieving data, but this data is anonymised and what data can be collected is strictly controlled by current privacy legislation.

Ask HJ

How will pay per mile road pricing work?

How is the Government going to recover the money lost on fuel and road tax? Electric vehicle owners are bound to be hit at some time. I had seen something about payment per mile - how on earth can that work? Do we pay monthly or once a year? I can see the tax dodgers working hard on that one. Not to mention the clever computer hackers coming up with a way around it or some kind of device to knock it out altogether that you will be able to buy online.

Yes, road pricing or pay per mile road user charging has been suggested as the most likely way for the Government to recover lost revenue from fuel and road tax, although there's been nothing official from the Government on that. The House of Commons Transport Select Committee has an inquiry running on it at the moment. There are various ways road pricing could be done and there are security, privacy and accessibility concerns if mobile phones are used as a means of tracking and paying so the Government will also need to consider physical infrastructure such as toll booths, gantries with cameras etc.

Answered by Sarah Tooze

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