Drivers have handed Sadiq Khan more than £540,000 in revenue after unsuccessfully appealing Congestion Charge penalties in place across the capital.
The figures, released today through a Freedom of Information request, show that more than 6,100 motorists attempted to challenge their penalties last year on the grounds they were unaware they entered a congestion charge area.
But Transport for London has firmly rejected these appeals and instead required the impacted drivers to pay their penalties in full which can be as much as £180 although this can be halved to £90 if paid early.
The data revealed that the rejected appeals made up five per cent of all representations against congestion charge penalties in 2024, marking the highest percentage recorded since data collection began in 2017.
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Penalties for failing to pay the congestion charge can se drivers fined £180
PA
The revenue from rejected appeals has seen a dramatic surge since 2020, with total collections reaching more than £3million over the past eight years.
The sharpest increase occurred in 2021, when TfL collected £710,000 from drivers whose appeals were rejected, more than 10 times the £67,377 collected in 2017.
This significant jump coincided with changes to the Congestion Charge scheme following the Covid pandemic, when operating hours were extended to include weekends and bank holidays.
But the scheme’s temporary suspension between March and May 2020 was followed by expanded hours from 7am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 12pm to 6pm on weekends and bank holidays.
In 2017, only 980 drivers claimed they were unaware of entering the charging zone, representing less than one per cent of all appeals, the data revealed.
This figure remained relatively stable until 2020, when it jumped to 1.9 per cent with 3,543 drivers making such claims.
The most significant increase came in 2021, when 7,816 drivers stated they were unaware of the charge and were forced to pay the penalties.
The trend has continued upward, with 2024 seeing 6,128 drivers making similar claims, accounting for the highest-ever proportion of appeals at five per cent.
But TfL said it has maintained a firm stance on rejecting appeals from drivers claiming ignorance of the Congestion Charge zone.
The transport authority said: “While we always take mitigating circumstances into account when considering representations against penalties.
“Given the extensive signage in place at the zone boundary and the detailed information available on our website, we do not accept representations from those who state they were unaware of the need to pay.”
The authority stressed that after passing signage indicating entry or exit from the zone, “the onus is ultimately on motorists to familiarise themselves with the rules of the charging schemes.”
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Thousands of drivers claimed they were unaware they entered a congestion zone
PA
The total number of Penalty Charge Notices issued in London reached 954,282 in 2024, this represents a slight increase from 2023, when 900,798 PCNs were issued for breaking the Congestion Charge rules.
The data shows that since 2017, TfL has issued over 7.2 million PCNs in total, with more than 33,000 drivers attempting to appeal on grounds of being unaware of the charging zone.
