Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a congestion charge as Transport for London has cancelled the charge.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about a congestion charge. Mrs X says she forgot to pay the charge due to difficult personal circumstances she was experiencing and now faces an increased charge which she cannot afford to pay.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Authority.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Transport for London (TfL) has considered the circumstances of Mrs X’s case and used its discretion to cancel the congestion charge. We cannot add to this or achieve a different outcome and so we will not investigate.

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Final decision

6. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because TfL has now cancelled the congestion charge.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman