London’s ultra-low emissions zone (ULEZ) appears to be creating issues even miles away from the British capital.
Belgian authorities have launched a probe into claims thousands of fines may have been sent unlawfully to drivers of EU-registerd vehicles in relation to ULEZ breaches.
ULEZ operates across all London boroughs 24 hours a day, seven days of the week with the exception of Christmas Day, and requires people whose non-exempted vehicles don’t meet the set emissions standards to fork out a £12.50 daily charge to drive into the zone.
The Belgian Ministry of Transport ordered the investigation into alleged criminal breaches of data rules after EU citizens, following Brexit, were issued with penalty charge notices from a collection agent acting on behalf of Transport of London (TfL).
In the wake of Brexit, UK authorities stopped having access to personal data of EU nationals for non-criminal enforcement. Nevertheless, drivers in various EU member states have received fines for not registering their ULEZ-compliant cars with TfL before entering London.
Meanwhile others were allegedly incorrectly penalised under the separate low emissions zone (LEZ), which targets heavy vehicles. This area operates to discourage the most polluting heavy diesel vehicles from driving in London and it covers most of the Greater London area 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
One driver was reportedly slapped with a fine of almost £11,000 after a three-day trip in a hire car.
The allegations of abuse of legal powers were made against a Belgian court bailiff acting for TfL’s collection agent Euro Parking Collection.
The bailiff is accused of abusing its legal powers to obtain more than 20,000 registered keeper details and pass them on to the collection agent to then be used for UK enforcement.
The Belgian court bailiff has since had its official access to the vehicle licensing database suspended pending disciplinary proceedings.
A number of Belgian MPs are now urging their government to take action to recover the money paid by EU-based motorists.
Among them is Michael Freilich, who uncovered the alleged data abuse and is claiming EPC is circumventing GDPR rules by employing EU-based agents who obtain driver data on its behalf without disclosing it will be shared with a UK company.
He told the Guardian: “EPC should cease these operations immediately, if necessary, by government action. Furthermore, they should be compelled to repay all of the ill-gotten gains.”
This came as Dutch authorities intervened after driver details were allegedly illegally obtained by an agent in Italy acting for Euro Parking.
The Dutch vehicle licensing agency, RDW, said in June to have launched a probe in the wake of complaints from drivers who had received hefty fines after visiting London in emissions-compliant cars. No data sharing agreement between the UK and the Netherlands is in place for ULEZ enforcement, RDW said.
Commenting on behalf of Euro Parking, TfL said it is the decision of each vehicle licensing authorities whether they release keeper details providing they are satisfied with the reason behind the request.
The organisation told The Independent: “Any company working on our behalf is contractually required to ensure that data is processed in line with the relevant data protection legislation and no Belgian driver data has been shared with us or EPC since the ruling by the Belgian National Chamber of Judicial Officers came into effect.”
On its website, TfL warns drivers of non-UK registered vehicles: “Owners of non-UK registered vehicles also need to meet the ULEZ emissions standards or pay the daily charge to drive within the zone. Vehicles need to be registered with our partner EPC plc, even if they meet the emissions standards.”
