Company Transport for London (TFL) has published a list of embassies in debt, which over the last 20 years have not paid the congestion charge for entering the London congestion zone. Among them is the Embassy of Kazakhstan with a debt of £4.6 million (2.6 billion tenge).
As reported by Ulysmedia.kz, citing the TFL website, a charge of £15 is levied on vehicles for entering the central part of the city. Local authorities believe this helps reduce road congestion, cut harmful emissions, and improve air quality.
The charge was introduced in 2003 at £5 and has been progressively increased: to £8 in 2005, £10 in 2011, £11.50 in 2014, and £15 in 2020.
From 2003 to 2023, embassy diplomats owed Britain £145.5 million for entering the London congestion zone. The debtors include:
- USA £14.6 million;
- Japan £10 million;
- India £8.5 million;
- Nigeria £8.4 million;
- China £7.9 million;
- Russia £6 million;
- Poland £5.2 million;
- Ghana £5 million;
- Kazakhstan £4.65 million.
Meanwhile, the press service of the US Embassy in London stated that all diplomats should be exempt from this charge.
"In accordance with international law, as reflected in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, our position is that the congestion charge is a tax from which diplomatic missions are exempt. Our longstanding position is shared by many other diplomatic missions in London," the statement reads.
However, TFL countered that the congestion charge is not a tax but a fee for a service.