ETOA seeks assurances over congestion charge rules
The European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) is seeking assurances over registration rules for foreign coaches amid fears the congestion charge could lead to widespread clamping of foreign coaches in central London.
The ETOA is now pressing Transport For London for assurances that this will not take place, even though congestion charging has started and coach operators are “still in the dark about the rules”.
If a non-UK coach tour operator wants to avoid the charge he has to register every single vehicle individually with Transport for London. Given the size of coach fleets, and the regularity with which they are changed, ETOA said this already gives operators a problem.
ETOA says the situation is made even worse because the current form used by operators to register – which can only be obtained on-line – requires operators to enter the coach’s V5 registration document details, which foreign coaches do not have.
ETOA says this has lead to foreign operators not registering coaches which, when they come back into the Congestion Charge could be clamped for not having paid first time round.
Allan Edmondson, ETOA’s Transport Consultant said: “We welcome TFL’s policy of not charging foreign coaches. But the situation is currently a mess which only leads to uncertainty amongst European coach operators at a time when London desperately needs every foreign visitor it can get”.
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