New data revealed by the Liberal Democrats has shown large numbers of ULEZ fines to vehicles registered outside of the UK have been left unpaid.
According to the data, 167,663 ULEZ fines were issued to vehicles registered outside of the UK in 2022.
30,520 of these fines were cancelled with a monetary value of £4.98 million.
A further 115,048 fines are still open cases, meaning they have not been paid and are being pursued or that they are in the process of being cancelled, meaning only 13% of fines issued to non-UK registered vehicles in 2022 have been paid.
TfL has only recently gained access to vehicle keeper details for France & the Netherlands via European Parking Collections.
Foreign vehicles must be registered with Transport for London (TfL) when entering ULEZ or else be deemed non-compliant by default in a rule that has little public awareness across the EU.
ULEZ requires drivers of older, more polluting vehicles to pay £12.50 a day to enter London or face a fine of £180, which is halved if it is paid within 14 days.
Commenting Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member and Transport Spokesperson Caroline Pidgeon AM said:
“It is worrying to see the extent of fines being issued to motorists entering London from the European Union.
“It is very clear that visitors are not being given clear information in advance of entering London and are then being faced with vigorous efforts to collect fines they had not been aware of.
“This information is clearly not being communicated well enough with ferry companies and Eurotunnel.
“If this issue is not solved it risks doing serious damage to London’s image as being open to visitors.”
