Over £8.4 million in unpaid congestion charges have been accumulated by the Nigerian High Commission in United Kingdom.
According to datasheet published by Transport for London (TfL) the amount relates to unpaid fees and fines accrued by diplomats between the launch of the congestion charge in 2003 and the end of last year.
The TfL manages many means of transport in London, including the tube, buses, trams, autos, bikes and river services.
The system entails a daily price of £15 for driving inside a region of central London between 7 am and 6 pm on weekdays and between noon and 6 pm on weekends and bank holidays.
There are discounts and exemptions for various groups of people and vehicles, such as residents, taxis, and fully electric cars.
Though, diplomats have argued that the congestion charge is a tax, exempting them from paying it under the Vienna Convention, but the TfL insisted that the payment is a service charge.
The body, in the datasheet seen by TheCable, said: “This means that diplomats are not exempt from paying it.’
“The majority of embassies in London do pay the charge, but there remains a stubborn minority who refuse to do so, despite our representations through diplomatic channels.”
According to TfL, the envoys representing different countries owed over £143.53 million in congestion charge payments.
