Managing Congestion charges

    Managing the Congestion Charge effectively for minicabit bookings. 

     

     

     Central London Congestion Zone

    From 8th April 2019 onwards, Private Hire drivers must pay a daily charge when entering central London as per the above map, but only between 7am-6pm Monday to Friday. The Congestion zone is currently the same area as the Ultra Low Emissions zone and is very small compared to the overall coverage of most Cab Operators.

    Duration: Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm 

    Exemptions : the following can avoid paying this charge (may require registration)

    1. Residents: Drivers who live in the zone
    2. Electric Vehicles
    3. Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles
    4. Vehicles with 9 or more seats
    5. Blue Badge Holders

    If you increase your prices on minicabit, you will likely push hard won customers onto other platforms like Uber (as happened when hailo hiked up their charges, see here)

     

    Recommendations to avoid your business losing revenue :

    • Educate your current and new drivers to take on Congestion Charge-exempt cars such as Electric Vehicles

    • Prioritise assigning minicabit jobs to Congestion Charge-exempt cars

    • Assign minicabit jobs to those of your drivers who are already scheduled to do multiple jobs of yours in the Congestion Charge zone since they can more easily recover this charge if they earn more work in the zone per day