Summary: Mr X complained about being charged a £10 administration fee for renewing his application for an exemption from the authority’s congestion charge. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complained about the authority charging a £10 administration fee for renewing his exemption discount from the congestion charge. He says it is unreasonable to charge when his vehicle is an exempt electric vehicle and cannot change its status.

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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. I have considered all the information which Mr X submitted with his complaint. Mr X has been given an opportunity to comment on a draft copy of my decision.

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What I found

4. Mr X says his car qualifies for a full exemption from the congestion charge because it is an electric vehicle. He paid a £10 administration fee to apply for the exemption but says he was asked to pay a further fee of £10 when the exemption came up for annual renewal a year later. He says his car cannot change its status so he should not have to pay a renewal fee.
5. The authority told him that the scheme is based on an annual registration and that it charges the £10 fee for updating its record and issuing a further exemption permit. The authority says it is similar to other permits which are issued for parking and traffic discounts.
6. The authority may make a charge for issuing annual permits and a £10 administration fee is not unreasonable and is not unlawful as Mr X claims.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman