fivepounds.co.uk

[puggit]

Old news really, but I've only just caught up with it, and it doesn't appear to have been reported on PH.

Seems that the plucky team at fivepounds.co.uk have been beaten by TFL. Sadly this stupid system, opposed by 99.9% of the country must go on.

fivepounds.co.uk said:

Fivepounds is sad to announce that we lost our Judicial Review at the High Court on Wednesday 21st December 2005 against Transport For London. The court decided that according to TFL's rules we were not a legitimate 'fleet'. The English language is a tough one to understand... in the dictionary a 'fleet' is a 'group of vehicles working together'. We were a group of vehicles operating together so that we could not get fined for forgetting to pay a ridiculous daily charge for driving our cars. As a member of Fivepounds you are still covered for your congestion charge until 3rd January 2006. **** YOU MUST PAY YOUR OWN CONGESTION CHARGE FROM 3rd JANUARY 2006 DIRECTLY TO TFL. **** Web: www.cclondon.com - Tel: [phone] We sincerely apologise for not being able to beat the giants at 'TFL'. It is a shame that TFL sought to close us down and it is still our opinion that they did this to save their revenue from fines. It is even sadder that Transport For LONDON could do what we have done and guarantee nobody EVER gets fined again immediately. All they need to do is take your payment details and charge you every time you travel into London. That's what they were doing with us and that's what they do with companies with more than 10 cars. Yet when it comes to the general public, they seem to say that there is no system in place to do this and they would need to spend millions on a system. Thank you for supporting us during our time. We will be back soon. Breaking News Fivepounds Style ! We are currently working on mounting a legal challenge against TFL through the Courts on a possible 'legal loophole' that will force TFL to pay back all of the FINES they have issued up to now. By beating us they have only made us stronger and more determined to fight back. We are also exploring our very own tagging system so that we know when your car enters the congestion zone and we would pay the charge for you. This would not be a 'fleet scheme' and so TFL would not be able to shut us down. Thank you all, we wish you a very happy new year the fivepounds team

May Red Ken rot in hell, forever being nibbled by naughty newts

[deva link]

It was a plucky effort, but they were taking the Michael, somewhat.

It's built into TfL's model that they'll get a certain amount of revenue from non-payers so they were never going to be happy about something that automatically billed people.

[puggit]

deva link said:

It's built into TfL's model that they'll get a certain amount of revenue from non-payers so they were never going to be happy about something that automatically billed people.

That 'certain amount' is a whopping £38m - 1/3rd of their income!!!

So they make it as hard as possible to pay and then reap in the fines

Personally I haven't driven in to Central London since the inception of the charge (not even at weekends)

May Ken rot in hell (as well as the above)

[groomi]

puggit said:

deva link said: It's built into TfL's model that they'll get a certain amount of revenue from non-payers so they were never going to be happy about something that automatically billed people. That 'certain amount' is a whopping £38m - 1/3rd of their income!!! So they make it as hard as possible to pay and then reap in the fines Personally I haven't driven in to Central London since the inception of the charge (not even at weekends) May Ken rot in hell (as well as the above)

It's a standard ploy for any authority. The Revenue & Customs website is so unnecessarily complicated (and unreliable), it is actually impossible to file everything acurately and on time. By 2008, all companies will have to file online. Why do I suspect they are planning rather a lot of fines....

[deva link]

puggit said:

That 'certain amount' is a whopping £38m - 1/3rd of their income!!! So they make it as hard as possible to pay and then reap in the fines

They way I look at it is (whatever you think of the scheme) they want to raise a certain amount of revenue. They *could* make it easy for everyone to pay, but then without the penalty charge income, the amount everyone has to pay would be significantly higher.

It's a bit like people complaining about tax on booze and saying it's much cheaper in France. Of course we could have cheap booze too, but we'd also have to have the higher rates of income and other taxes to compensate. I know what I'd choose (especially as you can have the best of both worlds and nip over the Channel now & again!) - the French can't come over here and choose to pay our Income Tax rates.

[Richard C]

Our income tax rates may be low but the employer and employee 'national insurance' rates are just as high. Part of the fiction that we are a low tax economy that successive dishonest governments perpetuate.

[zumbruk]

deva link said:

It's a bit like people complaining about tax on booze and saying it's much cheaper in France. Of course we could have cheap booze too, but we'd also have to have the higher rates of income and other taxes to compensate.

Of course, the State could always take less than the 50% of our income they already get. After all, if you and I find we're a bit strapped one month, we spend less, rather than going out and mugging another little old lady or two.