TfL makes £15 congestion charge permanent but removes fee after 6pm - here’s all you need to know

TfL introduced a temporary congestion charge fee of £15, up from £11.50, in May 2020. This was part of emergency measures taken during the pandemic to encourage a fall in traffic to make essential journeys easier.

But after a recent 10-week consultation that saw almost 10,000 responses, TfL has now decided to make the £15 charge permanent but to reduce the hours the fee applies to help London’s culture, hospitality and night-time businesses, which have suffered during the pandemic.

At the same time TfL has announced that it will be free to enter London's congestion zone from Saturday 25 December this year to Monday 3 January 2022 (inclusive).

If you're a driver, see our 50+ quick tips to cut costs in our Motoring MoneySaving guide, but here is a breakdown of what is happening.

There are other permanent changes being implemented from 20 December

While the changes listed above don't come into force until next year, there are some new rules coming into play on 20 December that you should be aware of. These are:

• The Auto Pay and Fleet Auto Pay discount will be scrapped. These functions for personal and business use respectively allow users to be billed automatically when they enter the congestion zone. 

• Residents won't be able to pay by app or online for multiple charging days. This means if you live in the congestion charge zone and pay a resident's fee, you won't be able to pay for consecutive charging days via the app or online.