EU driver slapped with London emissions fines totalling £25,000

theguardian.com:

A French driver has handed fines totalling nearly £25,000 for driving in London’s low-emissions zone, even though his minibus was exempt from the emissions charge.

Fernando Neiva, who runs a transport service for French tourists to the UK, has received 12 fines of £2,000 each after one of his drivers entered the Low Emissions Zone (LEZ) and threefines totalling over £700for breaching Ultra Low Emissions (Ulez) rules after visits to London last October and November.

The schemes, introduced by London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, require vehicles that do not meet current emissions standards to pay a charge to enter the capital. Drivers who fail to do so face fines of up to £3,000 a day. Since Neiva’s vehicle complied with the standards, his company did not pay the fee. Neiva is one of thousands of EU drivers caught out by a little-known requirement to pre-register their vehicles with Transport for London (TfL). Those who fail to do so have their vehicles classified by default as high emission. The minibus, registered to Neiva’s company,JD Limousine, and driven by his associate, Jayson Bachubira, was erroneously classed as a heavy diesel vehicle in breach of the LEZ and also held liable for Ulez charges levied on smaller, older vehicles. Last year, TfL’s collection agency, Euro Parking Collection (EPC), gained access to driver records in Germany, France and the Netherlands, and thousands of motorists have since received fines for trips up to a year ago.

Owing to postal and processing delays, most have missed the option of an early payment discount by the time they receive the PCNs. In many cases, the fine has doubled because it was not received within the 28-day payment deadline. This week the Guardian revealed that a French driver was