Nigeria’s diplomatic mission is third on the list of congestion charge debt, owing the United Kingdom just over £7m from more than 58,000 fines.
In a report released yesterday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said foreign diplomats in London owe more than £116 million in congestion charge fines with the United States the worst offender. The congestion charge is set at £11.50 a day and relates to a zone in central London.
The Foreign Secretary regularly sets out the amount of congestion charge debt relating to envoys in the capital and his latest report puts the figure at £116.9m. That is the total amount owed since the congestion charge was first introduced in February 2003.
The US diplomatic mission owes the most, clocking up fines and unpaid charges worth £12.4m, with the Japanese mission in second place on the list, owing £8.5m. There are a total of 102,255 individual fines outstanding for US embassy staff and 69,690 for the Japanese embassy for the period between February 2003 and the end of 2018.
The figures published by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office were supplied by Transport for London which is in charge of keeping track of the charges. Mr Raab said that the FCO sends reminders to diplomatic missions every year to urge them to settle their debts.
“FCO officials write to diplomatic missions and international organisations with large congestion charge debts annually, to encourage payment,” the Foreign Secretary said. Non-payment of the charge results in being issued with a penalty charge notice – effectively a fine worth £160. The fine can then increase if the PCN is not paid.
Raab also revealed in his latest written update to Parliament that two diplomats were expelled from the Saudi Arabian diplomatic mission in 2018 for three alleged offences involving driving under the influence of alcohol.