London (Parliament Politics Magzine) – Transport for London (TfL) issued an apology after hundreds of cabbies were mistakenly hit with Ulez fines.
Hundreds of London’s black cab drivers have been wrongly penalised for penetrating restricted areas due to an IT glitch, according to reports. Taxi drivers, who are excused from the congestion charge zone and the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) fee, were mistakenly levied anyway, the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association stated.
Transport for London has apologised and assured that the penalty charge directives will be cancelled. A spokesperson stated:
“We are cancelling the penalty charge notices and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
What caused the IT glitch affecting cab drivers?
It is assumed that many of the cases were driven by an IT hack on Transport for London, which left many thousands out of pocket. The union has stated that the issue shouldn’t have happened in the first place and that many of the drivers expended the fine rather than contest it.
how did the glitch impact drivers financially?
The association’s general secretary Steve McNamara said:
“What occurs when you get a penalty charge notice, if you don’t deal with it or you don’t pay it or you don’t respond to it very quickly, it escalates into a higher amount…Â If you don’t deal with them, the next thing you’ve got is bailiffs knocking on your door.”
He contended that more than 500 drivers called a helpline that had been installed to help this issue get resolved and that many were incapable of getting through to TfL on the phone.
“Members can’t get through to them, so they’re all ringing us and therefore our phones are jumping off the hook… this should not have occurred,”
stated Mr McNamara.Â
Taxis are excused from paying the congestion cost when actively licensed by Transport for London, official guidance states. A vehicle will be released from the register of exempt vehicles on the surrender, expiry or cancellation of the licence.