Hundreds of London’s black cab drivers have been wrongly penalised for entering restricted areas due to an IT glitch, according to reports.
Taxi drivers, who are exempt from the congestion charge area and the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) fee, were mistakenly charged anyway, the Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association said.
Transport for London has apologised and confirmed that the penalty charge notices will be cancelled.
A spokesperson said: "We are cancelling the penalty charge notices and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
It is believed that many of the cases were caused by an IT hack on Transport for London, which left many thousands out of pocket.
The union has said that the issue shouldn’t have happened in the first place and that many of the drivers paid the fine rather than contested it.
The association’s general secretary Steve McNamara told the BBC: "What happens 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...
“If you don't deal with them, the next thing you've got is bailiffs knocking on your door."
He added that more than 500 drivers called a helpline that had been established to help this issue get resolved and that many were unable to get through to TfL on the phone.
"Members can't get through to them, so they're all ringing us and consequently our phones are jumping off the hook... this should not have happened,” said Mr McNamara.
Taxis are exempt from paying the congestion charge when actively licensed by Transport for London, official guidance states.
A vehicle will be removed from the register of exempt vehicles on the surrender, expiry or revocation of the licence.
