Vehicles entering central London have been required to pay a fee since 2003. But about a third of diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom’s capital don’t pay for them. The government seeks to collect the outstanding fees, but some countries consider to be exempt.
International representations owe London about 145 million pounds (180 million dollars) in fees for traveling in the city, according to the British government.
David Rutley, the parliamentary under secretary of State at the foreign office, detailed the 85 embassies and international organizations that owe more than 100,000 pounds (124,000 dollars) accumulated in outstanding fees as of December 2022 since the congestion charge’s introduction.
The congestion charge is a toll introduced in London in February 2003 to limit vehicles entering the central part of the British capital. The daily fee is 15 pounds (19 dollars).
The three countries the most in debt are the United States (14.6 million pounds; 18 million dollars), Japan (10 million pounds; 12.4 million dollars) and India (8.5 million pounds; 10.6 million dollars), with Nigeria (8.38 million pounds; 10.4 million dollars) close behind.
For Mr. Rutley, diplomatic missions and international organizations are not exempt from the London Congestion Charge, which he compares to a parking fee or toll charge they are required to pay. The British government argues diplomats must respect a country’s regulation under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
But some countries are not willing to pay for it.
It is the case of the Czech Republic, which accrued 480,000 pounds (596,000 dollars) in arrears. But Daniel Drake, spokesman for the Czech Foreign Ministry, told the Czech media Novinky that his country considers it a local charge contrary to Article 25 of the said Vienna Convention. The article states that the “receiving State shall accord full facilities for the performance of the functions of the mission.”
A number of vehicles are exempt, such as ambulances and taxi drivers, but not diplomatic vehicles.
If most of the 85 countries saw their fees increase since a previous list of arrears from 2018, some countries do pay them.
Finland, one of the six European Union member States that don’t appear on the list of debtors, paid at least 278,000 pounds (345,000 dollars) in the last few years Tunisia is also one of the rare debtors that decreased the amount it owes by 63,000 pounds, or 18%, between the end of 2018 and 2022.
France, the 8th largest debtor behind China, Russia, and Poland, with 4.8 million pounds (6 million dollars) in arrears, increased its debt more than any other country. In four years, the outstanding amount more than doubled, growing by 2.56 million pounds.
While it accounted for a 113 percent growth, the top 3 increased their outstanding fees by 18 or 19 percent.
Moreover, the congestion charge was paused for a few weeks at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. And the 30 percent increase in June 2020, from 11.5 pounds to 15 pounds, doesn’t explain such a sharp inflation. The French embassy in London, located south of Hyde Park right at the limit of the zone, didn’t reply to Newsendip’s questions sent by email.
But the issue has been around since the introduction of the congestion charge. In 2006, Transport of London issued a statement because the United Arab Emirates embassy agreed that its diplomats should pay the congestion charge.
Another fee for light vehicles, the Ultra Low Emission Zone, costs 12.50 pounds daily and covers all London boroughs and the City of London.
