Sadiq Khan's Ulez on the brink of chaos as only one in seven drivers pay daily TfL fines

ulez fines

More than 25,000 Ulez fines were paid in May

PA
Hemma Visavadia

By Hemma Visavadia


Published: 28/06/2024

- 11:38

Roughly 188,000 penalties were issued to drivers in May

Only one in seven drivers have paid their Ulez fines in May as motorists continue to refuse to get on board with the clean air measures.

Data obtained exclusively by GB News found that during the month of May, Transport for London issued 188,745 penalties to drivers of non-compliant vehicles.


Despite thousands of fines being sent out, only 25,275 have been paid since the original penalty date - or 13.4 per cent.

However, TfL did note that the number of PCNs paid will change daily as more charges are paid over time.

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A Ulez signThe Ulez scheme was expanded to all London boroughs on August 29, 2023PA

Under the current Ulez rules, drivers of non-compliant cars are charged £12.50 daily for entering the zone.

To be Ulez-compliant petrol cars must meet Euro 4 emissions targets while diesel cars must adhere to Euro 6 emissions.

Petrol cars that meet the standards are generally those first registered as new with the DVLA after 2005, although cars that meet the standards have been available since 2001.

As for diesel cars, they meet the standards if first registered with the DVLA as new after September 2015. Electric cars and many hybrid models are exempt from the fines.

If drivers fail to pay the daily fee, they could be fined £180 and given 28 days to pay. If someone pays the fine within 14 days, they will only be charged £90.

A spokesperson for TfL explained that when a motorist drives a non-compliant vehicle within the zone, they have up to three days to purchase the daily charge.

TfL said: “If no charge is purchased a penalty is issued. As we must wait until the charge payment period has expired, and then carry out some verification before issuing a penalty, it is usually around five to seven days after the journey that the penalty is issued.

“When a PCN is issued the recipient has the right to challenge it by submitting representation to us.”

The data also showed that in total, out of the 1,348,938 penalties issued since the Ulez expansion last August, 974,590 have still not been paid.

Prior to the expansion of Ulez, over four million PCNs were issued to more than 1.25 million vehicles which breached the emissions rules.

Of these 42.8 per cent (156,417) vehicles have still yet to pay the charges issued to them by TfL.

Drivers, however, can appeal their Ulez fines through an Independent Adjudicator at London Tribunals.

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Ulez sign

1,348,938 penalties have been issued since August last year

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The Ultra Low Emission Zone was first launched in 2019 to cover central London through the Congestion Charge zone. During this time, TfL said it issued warning notices rather than PCNs to drivers.

The zone was expanded in August last year to cover Greater London by Mayor Sadiq Khan.

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