Post by The Dark Knight on Oct 13, 2024 18:34:44 GMT
Taxi drivers wrongly hit with Ulez charges after TfL cyber attack
Thousands of cabbies receiving automated penalties despite being on database whitelist that exempts them from tax
Steve McNamara, the general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, suggests that the TfL cyber attack on Sept 1 was to blame for the sudden surge in wrongful fines Alex Lentati/Evening Standard/Eyevine
Thousands of cabbies receiving automated penalties despite being on database whitelist that exempts them from tax
Steve McNamara, the general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, suggests that the TfL cyber attack on Sept 1 was to blame for the sudden surge in wrongful fines Alex Lentati/Evening Standard/Eyevine
Thousands of black cab drivers have been wrongly hit with Ulez and Congestion Charge fines after the cyber attack against London’s transport authority.
The Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA) said it had received thousands of calls this week from panicking cabbies who had begun receiving automated penalties from Transport for London (TfL).
It comes six weeks after a cyber attack saw the transport authority disabling large parts of its public-facing web services and contacting 5,000 people to say their credit card details had been stolen.
Steve McNamara, the general secretary of the LTDA, told the Telegraph: “Our phone systems are in meltdown because our members cannot get in touch with TfL.
“Thousands of my members have been affected by this. We’ve had over 500 calls this morning alone.”
There are just over 15,000 licensed black taxis operating in London.
Mr McNamara explained that TfL’s Ulez and Congestion Charge databases have whitelists of licensed black cabs, ensuring that taxi drivers – who are exempt from the two taxes – are not wrongly fined.
Yet towards the end of this week those drivers began receiving automated letters accusing them of wrongly entering the Ulez and Congestion Charge zones.
TfL cyber attack to blame
Entering the Ulez without an exemption or having paid the £12.50 daily charge results in a fine of £90, which doubles to £180 if not paid within 14 days.
“There’s a database of taxis that is put on the congestion charge and Ulez [whitelists] so that we don’t pay it,” said the LTDA boss.
Mr McNamara suggested that the TfL cyber attack on Sept 1 was to blame for the sudden surge in wrongful fines, saying other problems with official databases for taxis had arisen in recent weeks.
“I have got dozens and dozens of members who cannot go to work because their licences haven’t come through in time,” he said, explaining that the LTDA had been forced to send daily emails to TfL with details of drivers whose taxi licences were expiring so they could be manually renewed.
“About a week ago, something went wrong, and all the new taxis that had been licensed – the new 74 plates, the brand new cabs – for some reason, they never went on,” he continued.
“Then you get a congestion charge letter from TfL the next morning, sometimes three, four or five of them every day you’ve gone to work, because they hadn’t put it on the database.”
TfL denied suggestions that ordinary motorists had also been affected by wrongful Ulez and Congestion Charge fines and said it would be cancelling all penalties sent to black cab drivers. The transport authority also refused to say how many drivers it had falsely attempted to fine.
A spokesman said: “We are cancelling the penalty charge notices and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/12/taxi-drivers-wrongly-hit-ulez-charges-tfl-cyber-attack/
Not Only is it an electric black taxi, the number plate says CAB too."