The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, yesterday (23 April) confirmed that the London Congestion Charge was set to change, with an Ultra Low Emission Discount (ULED) to be introduced on 1 July 2013.

Following the announcement of an Ultra Low Emission Zone earlier this year, the discount forms part of efforts to improve the city’s air quality and ‘promote the further development of low emission vehicles’.

The discount replaces the current Greener Vehicle Discount (GVD) and Electric Vehicle Discount, with any cars being registered for the latter being automatically transferred to the ULED scheme.

According to Transport for London (TfL), only vehicles that are either pure electric or emit 75 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre (g/km) or less and meet the Euro 5 emission standard for air quality will qualify for the discount, which could see qualifying vehicles paying no Congestion Charge at all.

‘Sunset period’

The changes mean that cars registered for the GVD will not qualify for the ULED discount. However, following a 12-week consultation period TfL states that it was made aware that many drivers bought a GVD-standard vehicle in order to benefit from the discount. It has therefore stated that cars that currently qualify for the GVD will continue to receive the 100 per cent Congestion Charge discount for a ‘sunset period’ of three years, set to end on 24 June 2016.

John Mason, Transport for London's Director responsible for Congestion Charging, said: “We were pleased with the level of response from Londoners, businesses and stakeholders which has helped us and the Mayor shape our decisions.

“We've listened to the responses and have decided to extend the sunset period for current GVD registered vehicles by an additional year. We are confident that these changes will make the scheme greener and more efficient.”

Penalty charge to rise

In addition, TfL announced that the penalty charge for the scheme will rise from £120 to £130, claiming that this was ‘only’ the third rise in the penalty charge since 2003, when the scheme began. It said the increase would ‘bring the penalty charge in line with other moving traffic, bus lane and parking penalty charges within London’.

Furthermore, the retail payment option will end on 26 July 2013. This option allowed people to pay the Congestion Charge in shops and petrol stations, and when the scheme was launched in 2003 it comprised 37 per cent of sales, making it the most popular payment option. However, this figure has since dropped to six per cent with most people using the automatic payment method, the Congestion Charge Auto Pay. TfL figuers show that 250,000 people are currently registered to this, which allows people to pay £9 a day instead of the regular £10 charge, whilst offering protection from Penalty Charge Notices.

TfL stated that it was removing the retail payment option ‘to reduce the costs of operating the scheme’.

’Increasing dieselisation’

TfL claimed that one reason for the changes was to tackle ‘the increasing dieselisation of London’s car fleet’. It asserted that diesel car sales in London have increased by 10 per cent, up to 50 per cent in the last decade, ‘partly as a result of low carbon vehicle incentives’.

However, the body argues that a ‘Euro 4 diesel car emits about 22 times as much particulate matter as the equivalent petrol car’.

As such, no diesel car currently available will qualify for the ULED discount, with TfL stating it believes this is ‘unlikely to change in the immediate future’.

Matthew Pencharz, the Mayor of London's advisor on the Environment, said: 'These changes are in line with the Mayor's aim to improve air quality in London by reducing emissions from private vehicles and promoting the further development of low emission vehicles.

'We want to encourage the continued development of these technologies, while also protecting the benefits to traffic flow in the centre of London that the charge provides.'

TfL claimed that the new discount was part of a ‘comprehensive’ set of measures the Mayor has taken to tackle air pollution in London. It cited the introduction of a compulsory retirement age for ‘the most polluting’ taxis and the Clean Air Fund, which it says comprises a ‘package of innovative measures’ to improve air quality.

Moreover, it claimed the Mayor has ‘overseen procurement of Europe's largest fleet of hybrid buses and developed the new bus for London’, with 600 of the new buses due to enter service by 2016. It states that these buses ‘emit a quarter of the oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) and around half the CO2 of a traditional diesel vehicle'.

Read more about the Ultra Low Emission Discount.