The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about Transport for London charging her for driving in the congestion charge outside chargeable hours. This is because the injustice claimed (£15) is not significant enough to warrant investigation.
The complaint
The complainant, Ms X, complains Transport for London (TfL) has charged her £15 for driving in the congestion charge zone based on records and images which show she drove in the zone outside of chargeable hours.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
To ensure payment is made for any journeys inside the congestion charge zone, TfL operates an ‘autopay’ system where motorists can sign up to pay the charge, when it is due, automatically. Ms X has signed up for this service and TfL charged her £15 for driving in the zone.
However, Ms X says the time stamp on the images showing her driving in the congestion charge zone reads 18:05, which is outside chargeable hours. TfL says this is an internal issue related to the change from British Summer Time to Greenwich Mean Time and that Ms X actually drove in the congestion charge zone at 17:05. Ms X disputes the integrity of TfL’s data and wants it to refund her payment and ensure the time stamp and TfL’s records show the correct time.
We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. In deciding whether to investigate we need to consider various tests. These include the alleged injustice to the person complaining. We only investigate the most serious complaints.
I appreciate Ms X is frustrated and believes she may have been charged unnecessarily, but the amount of the charge (£15) is not significant enough to warrant further investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because TfL’s actions have not caused Ms X significant injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman