Since 23 October, 2017 all older diesel vehicles registered in 2006 or earlier, which enter the central Congestion Charge zone pay an additional £10 toxin tax on top of the Congestion and Low Emission Zone charges. These vehicles already pay £200 per day for driving into London’s Low Emission zone – so the RHA, which represents Britain’s hauliers, sees it as just another tax on business in the capital. 

Commenting, RHA Chief Executive Richard Burnett said, “We fully appreciate Mayor Khan’s vision for a cleaner, healthier London. The T-Charge on lorries is a modest tax, but the coming changes the mayor plans for ULEZ in 2019 will be a massive tax burden. It will impose taxes on those operators of lorries just a few years old who simply cannot afford to replace nearly new lorries - we will see jobs lost and hauliers put out of business to achieve very modest air quality improvement. It will mean prices consumers have to pay rising at a time of uncertainty over Brexit that’s a threat to the UK economy.” 

Photo: London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s quest for a cleaner London could have  consequences for its economy, warns the RHA.