Millions of trips into the capital by fleet drivers will have to be logged and paid for in advance under a new scheme proposed by the Greater London Authority.
The revelation comes in new documents prepared for fleet operators before the launch of congestion charging in London next February, that introduce two different 'bulk' payment schemes for fleets of more than 25 vehicles. Both schemes avoid the need for employers or company drivers to pre-pay congestion charges on a daily basis, but they do involve additional costs.
Employers will have to pay a one-off fee of £10 to register each vehicle, in addition to the standard £5 a day charge per vehicle to enter the charging zone. The first payment programme, called Periodic Notification Scheme, demands 'pre-payment that reflects the anticipated number of charges for the first month as predicted by the fleet operator'.
At the end of each month, fleets must provide a detailed, itemised list of their vehicles that entered the charging zone on each day of the month (potentially prompting a boom in demand for telematics systems so fleets can monitor the exact journey patterns of their drivers).
Transport for London will then check this list against the vehicle number plates captured by its network of cameras, with any additional vehicles spotted by the cameras to be charged to the fleet operator's account.
And in a continual process, fleet operators will have to predict anticipated charges for the following month.
The second payment programme, called Automated Decrementing Scheme, also requires pre-payment, but instead of the fleet submitting an end-of-month itemised schedule of individual journeys for its vehicles, TfL does the work. Its cameras log each registered fleet vehicle in the charging zone and then automatically debit the relevant fleet's account.
To cover the cost of the extra administration involved in the Automated Decrementing Scheme, Transport for London (TfL) will raise the daily charge per vehicle by 10% to £5.50.
A TfL spokesman said: 'The two fleet account schemes have been established to reduced administration for fleet operators.
'The fleet schemes will allow you to manage your fleets efficiently by simplifying back office administration and reconciliation.
'There is no need to rely on individual drivers to ensure compliance with the scheme as their vehicles are pre-registered.'
Although fleets could ask drivers to provide the data, the only reliable way of monitoring financial liability may be to monitor vehicles electronically, using vehicle tracking devices.
Publication of the document comes as a last ditch battle in the High Court by Westminister City Council to block the launch of congestion charging enters its second week.
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