Sadiq Khan has not ruled out sending in bailiffs after revealing that Transport for London is owed almost £400m in unpaid Ulez fines.
The mayor said the amount owed to TfL from drivers who had failed to pay the £12.50 clean air levy had increased to £376m as of last week.
Neil Garratt, the Tory group leader on the London Assembly, who had asked Mr Khan to disclose the figures, said the scale of the debt was “alarming”.
He said TfL had a “huge problem” with bad debts, which are now thought to be in excess of £450m.
“TfL’s bad debt has ballooned because of the Ulez,“ Mr Garrett said at mayor’s question time on Thursday at City Hall.
He asked Mr Khan: “Are we going to see bailiffs knocking on people’s doors?”
Mr Khan refused to rule this out, saying: “TfL will consider all options. £376m is too big. If you break the law, you break the law, and action should be taken.”
In May the Standard revealed that TfL was owed £218m from unpaid Ulez fines. Seven in 10 drivers issued with an £180 fine since the zone expanded across Greater London in August 2023 had failed to pay the penalty.
At the time, almost a million fines were outstanding. TfL had issued 1,348,938 Ulez fines between September 26 last year and April 26.
Of these, 282,448 had been paid, raising £43.8m. A total of 974,590 tickets were classed as “outstanding”.
Drivers have 28 days to pay or challenge a penalty ticket. They get a 50 per cent discount if they pay within 14 days. The bill increases to £270 after 28 days. Drivers can also appeal to an independent adjudicator.
Mr Khan said the Londonwide Ulez was “working even better than expected”, with emissions lower than predicted.
He said more than 96 per cent of vehicles seen driving in London were now Ulez-compliant, meaning they did not have to pay the levy – and ensuring they were not at risk of penalty fines.
He said “only 0.27 per cent of drivers” receive a Ulez penalty charge notice. He said that, due to the time allowed for payments or appeals, it can be “some time” before an accurate figure can be determined for penalty charge income or debts.
Mr Garratt said TfL’s bad debt had increased from £160m prior to the Ulez expansion to about £450m. “It’s a huge problem with bad debt you have created for TfL,” he said.
Mr Khan said TfL was not unique in facing problems with unpaid fines, but added: “It’s important that TfL clamps down on this issue.
“TfL has been working to identify new ways of recovering debt, including collaborating with the Department for Transport and the DVLA and working with enforcement agents to find drivers who receive multiple PCNs and improved communications with drivers.
“TfL is also involved in the pursuit of civil recovery through county court judgements and will not stop until all avenues are exhausted and every penny it can recover is received.”
