How to pay the ULEZ charge: When drivers in London must make the payment – and how you might be exempt

The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expansion will be introduced on August 29, affecting millions of drivers in London.

The expansion will be introduced by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, after he was given the green light by the High Court this morning.

This means ULEZ will be expanding from its current borders of the North and South Circular roads, to all London boroughs.

But how and when do drivers in London need to  pay the ULEZ charge? And who is exempt? Read below to find out

You have to pay the ULEZ charge by midnight on the third day following the journey or up to 90 days in advance

When to pay the ULEZ charge 

If you need to pay the ULEZ charge, charging days run from midnight to midnight, every day of the year (except Christmas Day).

You have to pay by midnight on the third day following the journey or up to 90 days in advance. 

The daily charge is: £12.50 for cars, motorcycles, vans and specialist vehicles (up to and including 3.5 tonnes) and minibuses (up to and including 5 tonnes).

If you don’t pay on time, you risk getting a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). 

How to pay the ULEZ charge  

If you want to payment to go through automatically, Auto Pay will bill you every month for any Congestion Charges, ULEZ and/or LEZ charges you may owe and there are no registration or renewal fees.

You can register up to five vehicles and you don’t have to do anything in order to pay – it’s all automatic once it’s set up. 

There are two options to choose from: Auto Pay and Fleet Auto Pay.

If you or your business regularly drive more than 5 vehicles within a charging zone, it’s recommended to choose Fleet Auto Pay. 

You can set up Auto Pay on the TfL website.

If you don’t want to pay automatically, you can pay by using TfL’s official payment portal – you enter your registration number and it will find your vehicle.

TfL are warning people to not pay on unofficial websites to avoid being scammed. 

 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (pictured) has been given the green light to expand ULEZ to all London boroughs

TfL Pay to drive in London app  

TfL’s free ‘Pay to Drive in London’ app can make the process easier. 

On the app, you can: 

• Set up Auto Pay 
• Pay a penalty Check if a postcode is in a charging zone
•  Manage your account 
• Save your vehicle details for future use
•  See your payment history  

If you already have an Auto Pay account, you can also:

• Add and remove vehicles from your account
• View payment card details
• View your outstanding autopay balance 

Who is exempt? 

You can check if your vehicle is compatible with ULEZ regulations, using the free checker on their website.

Simply enter your car’s registration number (number plate) to check it’s compliance.

The system will check it’s databases to determine whether your vehicle meets ULEZ standards.

TfL has also introduced grace periods for wheelchair accessible vehicles and those with disabled benefits.

For wheelchair accessible vehicles there is a grant payment of £5,000 to scrap or retrofit to the ULEZ standard.

In order to qualify for the wheelchair accessible grant, the vehicle you apply with must have been converted by mobility experts to permit a disabled person to access the vehicle either as a driver or passenger.