Indian diplomats parking, congestion cost fines prime 9.2 million in London

Even as India concluded a commerce take care of the United Kingdom, Indian diplomatic autos have racked up nearly £10 million (₹115.8 crore) in unpaid dues and penalties for London’s congestion cost, a £15 every day charge relevant to all autos driving in components of the British capital. At final rely, in November 2024, in accordance with a Parliamentary assertion, Indian diplomatic autos owed £9,141,875 in penalty cost notices.

“We have been clear that the Congestion Charge is a cost for a service and never a type of tax that diplomats are exempt from paying,” Transport for London chief buyer and technique officer Alex Williams mentioned in a letter to Indian High Commissioner Vikram Kumar Doraiswami final August. The letter was supplied to The Hindu in response to a request underneath the U.Ok.’s Freedom of Information Act, 2000. 

While many diplomatic missions in London pay the charge, India, the U.S., and Japan have deemed the cost a tax, which diplomats are immune from paying underneath Article 34 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. 

In a subsequent letter in November, Mr. Williams mentioned that “there aren’t any authorized grounds to exempt diplomatic missions and worldwide organisations from the Congestion Charge, which [the U.K. Foreign Office views] as akin to a parking charge or toll cost that they’re required to pay.” TfL mentioned in response to the FOI request that the Indian excessive fee has not responded to the letter. The Ministry of External Affairs didn’t reply to a question on the letters.

Aside from this, the U.Ok. additionally fees so-called National Non-Domestic Rates from industrial properties and diplomatic missions. As of November, India had an impressive NNDR helpful fee of £99,385. Unpaid parking fines had been additionally recorded that amounted to £13,964. This info was supplied to the U.Ok. Parliament by Catherine West, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Indo-Pacific. 

While the charges have been reiterated by way of diplomatic channels, they haven’t introduced a critical impediment to U.Ok.–India commerce talks, which concluded with the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement that was signed on July 24.