US Embassy refuses to pay £14.6m London congestion cost invoice

The US Embassy in Britain has hit back at Sadiq Khan‘s Transport for London after being accused of owing nearly £15million in congestion charge debt.

TfL revealed diplomats from all countries owe a total of £145.5million in payments for the charge since it was introduced by former mayor Ken Livingstone in 2003.

The American embassy is the worst offender with £14.64million in debt – ahead of Japan at £10.07million, India at £8.55million and Nigeria at £8.40million.

Diplomats claim they should be exempt because they see the charge as a tax, which would therefore mean they would not have to pay under the Vienna Convention.

But TfL has insisted that the UK Government agrees with it that the scheme is a ‘charge for a service and not a tax’ and therefore diplomats are ‘not exempt’.

Now, a spokeswoman for the US Embassy in London has issued a statement on the row, telling MailOnline: ‘In accordance with international law as reflected in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, our position is that the congestion charge is a tax from which diplomatic missions are exempt.

‘Our long-standing position is shared by many other diplomatic missions in London.’

The statement has put the US Embassy – which moved from Grosvenor Square to Nine Elms in 2018 – on a collision course with TfL, which is chaired by London Mayor Mr Khan.

TfL said it has been pushing for the matter to be taken up at the International Court of Justice, and has raised it with officials at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCDO).

MailOnline understands that the FCDO expects diplomatic missions and international organisations based in the UK to pay the congestion charge.

Officials there believe there are no legal grounds to exempt diplomats from paying it and the charge is comparable to a parking fee or a toll charge which diplomatic missions and international organisations are required to pay.

It comes ahead of New York City‘s plan to introduce a congestion charge from June 30 which will see drivers have to pay $15 (£12) every time they enter midtown Manhattan.

In a statement accompanying the diplomatic debt data, TfL said: ‘We and the UK Government are clear that the Congestion Charge is a charge for a service and not a tax. This means that diplomats are not exempt from paying it.

‘The majority of embassies in London do pay the charge, but there remains a stubborn minority who refuse to do so, despite our representations through diplomatic channels.

‘We will continue to pursue all unpaid Congestion Charge fees and related penalty charge notices and are pushing for the matter to be taken up at the International Court of Justice.’

MailOnline also understands that TfL wants support from the UK Government to recover outstanding congestion charge debt and related penalty charge notice payments.

A TfL spokeswoman added: ‘We are clear that foreign diplomats and consular staff are not exempt from paying the Congestion Charge. 

‘We continue to pursue all unpaid Congestion Charges and related penalty charge notices.’

The congestion charge involves a £15 daily fee for driving within an area of central London between 7am and 6pm on weekdays, and between noon and 6pm on weekends and bank holidays.

There are discounts and exemptions for various groups of people and vehicles, such as residents, taxis and fully electric cars.

The scheme is separate to the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) – expanded by Mr Khan last August – which is levied on a different basis.

Embassies and high commissions tend to lease vehicles when visiting London, which means almost all vehicles would meet the Ulez standards.

Other embassies in the top ten for congestion charge debt include China at £7.93million, Russia at £6.00million, Poland at £5.27million, Ghana at £5.00million, Kazakhstan at £4.65million and Germany at £4.64million.

Outside of the top ten, further countries include Sudan at £3.94million, Kenya at £3.26million, Pakistan at £3.13million and South Korea at £2.64million.

France‘s debt is £2.55million, Cuba‘s is £2.47million, Tanzania £2.30million, Spain £2.19million, Algeria £2.19million and South Africa £1.98million.

The cleanest record belongs to Togo which owes just £40 – followed by Dominica and Finland, both at £120. Turkmenistan, Panama, Macedonia and Monaco are all at £130.

The figures relate to unpaid fees and fines accrued by diplomats between the launch of the congestion charge in 2003 and the end of last year.

Ministers revealed in Parliament last September that foreign diplomats in London owe nearly £150 million in congestion charge debt, but the full breakdown by country has now emerged.

Figures given to MPs at the same time showed that 15 serious and significant offences, including sexual assault and drunk-driving, were allegedly committed by diplomats or those entitled to diplomatic immunity between 2019-2022.

Junior foreign minister David Rutley said at the time: ‘We consider that there are no legal grounds to exempt diplomatic missions and international organisations from the London congestion charge, which is comparable to a parking fee or toll charge they are required to pay.’

The congestion charge was brought in by Mr Livingstone at £5 a day in February 2003.

It was then increased to £8 in July 2005, £10 in January 2011, £11.50 in June 2014, and £15 in June 2020 – at which it remains today.

TfL faced a financial crisis during the pandemic when income plummeted due to a collapse in journey numbers due to successive lockdowns.

It receives a series of government bailouts with the most recent funding deal of £250million agreed with the Department for Transport last December.

In February 2020, then-foreign secretary Dominic Raab issued a written ministerial statement revealing that his officials have written to ‘a number of diplomatic missions and international organisations’ to ‘press for payment’ of money owed relating to the congestion charge, parking fines and business rates.