United Kingdom

The London Congestion Charging Scheme:
The Congestion Charge is £10 if paid in advance or on the day of travel OR £12 if paid by midnight the charging day after travel for driving or parking a vehicle on public roads within the Congestion Charging zone between 7:00am and 6:00pm, Monday to Friday, excluding weekends and public holidays and between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day inclusive. Payment of the charge (Including Rental / Hire Cars) allows you to drive around, leave and re-enter the zone as many times as required in one day.

You will know when you are about to cross the boundary into the charging zone because you will see the ‘C’ sign, shown top right, at the side of the road. There are no tollbooths, barriers or tickets; instead you are paying to register your vehicle registration number on a database. Cameras will read your number plate as you enter or drive within the charging zone and check it against the database of those who have paid the charge or those who are exempt or registered for 100% discount. Once the vehicle registration number has been matched, showing that you have paid you are fully wiped off the database.

Payment can be made via the TFL call centre, via the web www.cclondon.com , in retail outlets offering the PayPoint service or in post offices. The charge can be paid at any time up to 10pm on the day of entry into the zone.
The areas where the charge is applicable are highlighted on this Map
View map of the changes to the congestion charging zone (PDF 76KB)(opens in new window)

ALAMO:
Congestion Charge is applicable in Central London. Marble Arch and London Bayswater are the only Alamo locations that fall into the Central London zone. If the customer picks up a car from Marble Arch between Monday to Friday (07.00-18.00) inclusive, Alamo will offer to add the first day's Congestion Charge fee to the rental agreement for their convenience. The customer will then be responsible for paying the daily charge for all subsequent days (Saturday, Sunday and public holidays are exempt). For a customer picking up a car from Marble Arch on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday no Congestion Charge fee will be added to the rental agreement for that first day. They will then be responsible for paying the fee for all subsequent chargeable days (excluding Saturday, Sunday and public holidays).

HERTZ:
Marble Arch, Victoria & Russell Square are now all located within the zone. However Hertz pays the first congestion charge for customers renting from these locations. Subsequent entries into the zone are the renters responsibility.


EUROPCAR:
Edgware Road, London Victoria & London Notting Hill are within the Zone

Hire cars are not exempt from the charge and it is the responsibility of the renter and not Europcar to register the vehicle they are driving by paying the charge each day they travel within the zone.

Information correct at time of publication
Page Modified: 18 October 2011