Foreign Embassies owe £143m in unpaid Congestion Charge fines
Wed, 22 May 2024
Foreign Embassies from around the world owe Transport for London (TfL) hundreds of millions in unpaid Congestion Charge fines – with the US leading the way as the worst offender.
According to latest figures, the American Embassy owes TfL a staggering £14,645,025 in outstanding Congestion Charge debt.
This is easily the largest figure, although the Embassy of Japan also owes a whopping £10,073,988, while the Indian and Nigerian embassies both owe over £8m.
The Togo embassy also has an unpaid Congestion Charge debt – of £40.
The outstanding debts date right back to 2003, when the London Congestion Charge originally went live. Now standing at £15 a day, the current total is as of the end of 2023.
Intriguingly, TfL says that although the majority of embassies in London do pay the charge, "there remains a stubborn minority who refuse to do so, despite our representations through diplomatic channels."
TfL says it - and the UK Government - are clear that the Congestion Charge is a charge for a service and not a tax. It points out that this means diplomats are not exempt from paying it.
In response, the US embassy told Sky News that according to the 1961 Vienna Convention, "our position is that the Congestion Charge is a tax, from which diplomatic missions are exempt. Our long-standing position is shared by many other diplomatic missions in London."
TfL is now threatening to take the US embassy and all other embassies to court – and even to the ICJ.
"We will continue to pursue all unpaid Congestion Charge fees and related penalty charge notices and are pushing for the matter to be taken up at the International Court of Justice."
It is not the first time the 20 years of outstanding debuts have been publically raised. In 2020, said Sky News, foreign secretary Dominic Raab issued a ministerial statement that officials had written to a number of embassies to "press for payments" for outstanding Congestion Charge, parking fines and business rates.
No payments, it seems, were forthcoming...
Is my MG HS exempt from the London Congestion Charge?
