Toxicity charge to hit drivers of older vehicles in London

London Mayor Sadiq Khan yesterday introduced a £10 ‘T-charge’ on older, more polluting vehicles in the capital. 

The £10 ‘T-charge’ – or toxicity charge – is aimed to reduce air pollution and means owners of vehicles registered before 2006 must pay £21.50 to drive into central London, or face a £130 fine.

The daily charge, which is enforced from 7am to 6pm from Monday to Friday, comes on top of the £11.50 congestion charge.

The Mayor’s office said that forecasts of the reduction of Nitrogen Dioxide and similar gases would be as low as 1-3 per cent by the T-charge.

The tax will apply to up to 34,000 vehicles every month, according to Khan’s office, a small proportion of the 535,000 vehicles which come into central London.

But the T-charge was just the first part of the scheme.

By 2019, the Mayor’s office will introduce an Ultra Low Emissions Zone which will mean many more vehicles will have to pay the charge – and by then it is hoped pollution will be reduced by as much as 50 per cent.

Eventually, the Mayor aims to create an Ultra Low Emissions Zone stretching from the North Circular in north London to the South Circular south of the river by 2021.

Mr Khan has called on the government to introduce a diesel scrappage scheme to help people affected by the charges to switch to cleaner cars.

Black cabs – whose diesel engines have been blamed for up to 18 per cent of air pollution in London – are exempt from the charge. Black cab drivers are eligible for financial assistance to switch to less polluting vehicles. 

The new tax, which comes on top of the congestion charge, will apply to up to 34,000 vehicles every month, according to Khan’s office, a small proportion of the 535,000 vehicles which come into central London