By Abiola Olawale
A Transport for London in a recent report has revealed that the Nigerian High Commission has accumulated a total of £8.4 million unpaid congestion charges since 2003.
In the document, the £8.4 million debt which spanned a period of 21 years relates to unpaid fees and fines accruing to diplomats from Nigeria between the launch of the congestion charges in 2003 and the end of last year.
In the list, the United States of America (USA) sits in first position with a Debt of £14.6million while Japan came second with £10.1 million debt.
India is in third place with £8.5 million while Nigeria is fourth on the list.
Other countries on the list include Russia, China, Poland, Ghana, Kenya, and France, Kazakhstan, Germany, Cuba, Tanzania, Spain, among others , while Togo was the country with the least charges at £40.
The TfL is saddled with the responsibility of overseeing various modes of transportation in London, including the tube, buses, trams, cars, bikes, and river services.
The scheme involves a £15 daily fee for driving within an area of central London between 7 am and 6 pm on weekdays and between noon and 6 pm on weekends and bank holidays.
Although several diplomats have argued that the congestion charge is a tax, exempting them from paying it under the Vienna Convention is required but the TfL insisted that the payment is a service charge not a tax.
On its official website, the TfL wrote: “This means that diplomats are not exempt from paying it,”
“The majority of embassies in London do pay the charge, but there remains a stubborn minority who refuse to do so, despite our representations through diplomatic channels.”
The TfL also threatened to escalate the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICC) if the offending nations refuse to pay the accrued debts.
