Overseas embassies in London refuse to pay £77m on Congestion Charge

ALESSIA PIERDOMENICO, Newscom, RTR

More than £75 million in Congestion Charge fees is owed by London’s foreign embassy staff who refuse to pay it.

The staggering figure is revealed in a report which names and shames 71 countries which have each racked up debts of more than £100,000 since the scheme launched in February 2003.

According to figures compiled by Transport for London (TfL) and seen by MSN Cars, the total amount outstanding from them – up to 14 January 2014 – is a whopping £76.9 million.

The US embassy tops the list, owing over £8m for driving in London

Top of the list of offenders is the American Embassy, with outstanding payments totalling more than £8 million. Second is the Embassy of Japan at £5.6 million, followed by the Embassy of the Russian Federation on £5.1 million. The UK representatives from Nigeria, Germany, India, Poland, Ghana, Sudan and Kazakhstan complete the top 10, together accounting for more than £40 million of the debt.

TfL says it and the UK Government are clear that the Congestion Charge is a payment for a service and not a tax, which means diplomats aren’t exempt from it.

“Around two-thirds of embassies in London do pay the charge, but there remains a stubborn minority who refuse to do so, despite our representations through diplomatic channels,” said Paul Cowperthwaite, TfL’s general manager.

He confirmed it was continuing to pursue all unpaid fees and related penalty charge notices, and was pushing for the matter to be taken up at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

LUKE MACGREGOR, Newscom, RTR

By law, any revenue generation by the Congestion Charge scheme must be reinvested in improving transport for the capital. Prof Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said it wasn’t as though London could do without the money. “The population and the streets are set to get much busier. There are a thousand ways in which the cash could be usefully spent, from road maintenance to improving safety.”

Glaister labelled it “undiplomatic” that countries were not coughing up for what most people would agree they legitimately owe. “It’s unlikely that diplomatic immunity was ever envisaged as a way to help embassies escape paying things like congestion charge. That the matter is to be taken up at the ICJ shows how absurd things have become.”

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By Richard Yarrow, contributor, MSN Cars