Summary: Mr B complains TfL wrongly issued him with PCNs for entering the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) without paying the appropriate charge. The Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint because TfL exercised discretion and cancelled the charges and there are insufficient grounds to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr B, says despite him registering his emission compliant vehicle, he received PCNs for entering the LEZ without paying the charge. Although the PCNs were cancelled he wants an explanation as to why he received the charges and an apology.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr B and TfL. I gave Mr B the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what he said.

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What I found

4. Mr B owns a vehicle which is registered outside the UK.
5. In 2018 he received a number of PCNs for entering the LEZ without paying the appropriate charge.
6. His representations against the PCNs were accepted and cancelled when agents acting on TfL’s behalf decided to exercise discretion based on the evidence he provided that his vehicle was compliant with the scheme.
7. Mr B complained to TfL that he should not have been issued with the PCNs so the matter was not one of discretion being exercised and that he should receive an apology and confirmation that he can drive his car in the LEZ without fear of incurring any further PCNs.
8. Mr B did not receive a response to his complaint and brought the matter to the Ombudsman. In response to my query, TfL has explained that while it is able to determine whether vehicles registered in the UK meet the required LEZ emissions standards using information supplied by the DVLA, it does not have access to the equivalent data for vehicles registered outside the UK.  This means that owners of vehicles registered outside the UK who believe their vehicles meet the relevant standards must provide TfL with evidence demonstrating this so that it can update its records accordingly.
9. TfL says although Mr B holds an account, it has no record of him having registered, or having attempted to register, his vehicle as compliant and this was why he was issued with the PCNs.
10. TfL says the PCNs were cancelled using discretion when, as part of his representation, Mr B provided evidence to demonstrate that his vehicle met the required LEZ standards.  It says that while it appears that Mr B has still not registered his vehicle with TfL, to close the matter and prevent the issue of any further PCNs, it will arrange for its records to be updated to show the vehicle is compliant.

Assessment

11. Mr B says he had previously registered his vehicle but TfL says its records do not reflect this. Irrespective of this, as the PCNs were cancelled and Mr B’s vehicle has now been noted as compliant, there are insufficient grounds to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because TfL exercised discretion and cancelled the charges and there are insufficient grounds to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman