GREEN MEANS GO
LONDON CONGESTION CHARGE COMES INTO EFFECT ON 2 JAN FOR EV DRIVERS - INCLUDING PHVs
The 100% Cleaner Vehicle Discount (CVD) ended on 25 December 2025. From Friday 2 January 2026 private hire EVs have to pay the Congestion Charge when driving in central London during charging hours. PHVs will need to pay if you drive within the Congestion Charge zone during the following times: 7:00-18:00 Mon-Fri / 2:00-18:00 Sat- Sun and bank holidays The daily Congestion Charge is £18 if paid on the day of travel or in advance or £21 if paid within 3 days after travel. There is a new 25% reduced daily charge for EVs registered on Auto Pay of £13.50. If your vehicle isn’t registered for Auto
Pay, the discounted charge will not apply.
How to get your CVD:
https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/au to-pay l Register for a London Road User Charging account
l Register for the Auto Pay service l Ensure the vehicle you drive in the zone is added to your Auto Pay service
l There’s no fee to set up Auto Pay or to add your vehicles. l You don’t need to separately for the CVD.
If you’re already registered for Auto Pay and your vehicle details are correct,
you don’t need to do
anything. Once your EV is on Auto Pay, we’ll apply the discounted rate. You can add or remove vehicles by
apply
Auto Pay’ when you’re logged in to your account. Private hire vehicles that are designated as WAVs will keep the exemption, but only when carrying out a private hire booking for a TfL- licensed private hire operator. PHVs are designated as WAVs at the point of the vehicle licensing inspection, and this is noted on the vehicle licence. Hackney
carriages are exempt selecting: ‘Manage
from paying the Congestion Charge when actively licensed by TfL. A vehicle will be removed from the register of exempt vehicles on the surrender, expiry or revocation of the licence. Check TfL congestion charge zone:
https://shorturl.at/fyNXC
DURHAM TAXI DRIVERS DEMAND ACCESS TO £8M UNSPENT NEWCASTLE CAZ GRANT CASH
Cabbies from outside the Tyne & Wear region are calling for a reversal of plans to close a grant scheme for cleaner vehicles, arguing they should be eligible for the remaining £8m of government funding. Newcastle City Council recently announced that applications for CAZ upgrade grants, worth up to £16,000, will close on January 30. The scheme was designed to help switch high-polluting vehicles that incur the CAZ charge for compliant models. Despite issuing over 1,100 grants since 2022, approximately £8m of the original £15m provided by the Government is unspent. This surplus cash is now expected to be redirected to help bus companies upgrade their fleets.
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Members of the Durham Taxi & PH Association are pleading for the scheme to be opened to them, having been excluded thus far. Currently, only cabbies in Newcastle, Gateshead, and North Tyneside have been eligible for up to £3,500 per vehicle. Non- compliant taxis from other areas face a £12.50 per day charge to drive into Newcastle city centre. Mike Anderson, chair of the association, highlighted the financial pressure on drivers: “If you are taking a job from Durham into Newcastle and you aren’t Euro 6 compliant, you’re paying £12.50. “A lot of people have had to make arrangements to drop people off outside the CAZ area, or otherwise
you are having to add £12.50 to the passenger’s bill. Either way, it makes it uncompetitive.” Mr Anderson, who wants the grants opened to taxis in Durham, South Tyneside, Sunderland, and Northumberland, expressed con- cern that the residual funds would benefit “the multi-million pound bus companies, not to the sole traders and small companies.” A spokesperson for Newcastle City Council defended the initial focus, stating: “Funding for taxis is targeted towards those most likely to
be affected by the CAZ,
including those who have no choice but to operate within the zone and those more likely to make regular journeys into the zone.”
JANUARY 2026 PHTM
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