Companies that run vehicles in London face more charges as London Mayor Boris Johnson has revealed plans to increase the London Congestion Charge from £8 to £10. To add a bit more pain, currently, if you run 10 or more vehicles, you can claim a £1 discount on the £8 and that’s going to be abolished also.
There is a new automatic payment system called “CC Autopay” which will give any driver a £1 discount on entering Central London, but there is going to be a fee to register to use this automated payment system, but at the moment, the registration fee hasn’t been disclosed and I guess it depends on how much that registration fee is before users decide if its viable or not.
The new autopay system will know the number of times that your vehicle enters the congestion zone and then charge you automatically at the end of each week.
The new charges its claimed will ensure that the system remains effective in controlling traffic levels within central London and that all the extra cash paid can go towards what euphemistically referred to as helping to fund vital improvements to London’s transport network and that’s what “all Londoners want”
OK, for many of us, this wont effect us, but surely, its clear to everyone that the £1.7 billion “black hole” in Transport for London’s budget caused by overruns due to inefficient public transport planning, has to be funded from somewhere and it makes you reflect that this now means the London Congestion Charge fee has doubled in cost in just 7 years and its little wonder that people in this country are fighting against similar schemes in their own towns and cities.
Its intended the new charges will come into force from 1st December onwards (be a pity to miss the Xmas rush!)
Meanwhile Mr Johnson has said, drivers using the CC Autopay system, can be sure they will never receive a penalty charge again! Now there’s a crumb of comfort.
