London embassies owe £147m in unpaid congestion charges

In 2003, a congestion charge was introduced in London. Many embassies located in the capital of the United Kingdom refuse to pay it. The debt of the American embassy has already reached £15 million. It's not the only country that owes money. The list of debtors includes China, Japan, and India. The British are planning to address the issue.

Transport for London (TfL) informed about the debts of some embassies and consular offices in the city. These debts result from the failure to pay the fee for entering the centre of the British capital. According to the Interia portal, the most indebted are diplomats from the United States, whose debt amounts to £15 million. It all stems from the congestion charge introduced in 2003.

The daily charge of £15 applies to all drivers who travel in the strict centre of the British capital from Monday to Friday between 7 AM and 10 PM GMT. The charge also applies on weekends and holidays from 12 PM to 6 PM GMT. Taxi drivers, electric car drivers, and centre residents are exempt from the congestion charge.

Although the regulations do not exclude embassies from this obligation, representatives of many of them hold a different opinion. US diplomats argued that the congestion charge is a tax and "diplomatic missions do not bear tax charges imposed by the state they are in."

The spokesman for the American embassy emphasizes that this viewpoint is shared by many other countries. TfL has a different perspective.

TfL emphasizes that the charge is not a tax but a service. In such a case, the exemption does not apply. The list of debtors includes 161 embassies and other consular offices whose debts have already exceeded £147 million. In addition to the United States, the embassies of Japan and China hold the most enormous debts.

TfL announces that it will collect the overdue charges. The institution's statement indicates that it will also take steps for the case to be addressed by the International Court of Justice.