TfL PCN: red routes, the Congestion Charge and ULEZ explained
By Matthew Adeola, founder of Docketory. Law (Honours) graduate who has represented himself in civil proceedings, CCJ removal, and consumer disputes. Not a solicitor.
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Related service: Penalty Charge Notice
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The short answer
For any driver or registered keeper with a penalty charge notice from Transport for London: a red route, bus lane, yellow box or banned turn on a TfL road, or the Congestion Charge, ULEZ or a tunnel charge unpaid. The notice comes by post, the keeper is liable, and every stage runs on 28 days. Docketory drafts and submits the challenge; the tribunal is free. Docketory never files at court.
A TfL PCN is a penalty charge notice from Transport for London, not from your borough. It arrives by post, addressed to the registered keeper. It covers two kinds of thing: how a vehicle was driven or stopped on a road TfL manages, and a road charge that was not paid. This guide covers London only.
What is a TfL PCN?
Transport for London enforces its own roads, the red routes, and its own road charges. A red route notice is for stopping on the red lines, overstaying a red route bay or loading bay, driving or parking in a bus lane, blocking a yellow box junction or making a banned turn. A road charge notice is for a charge that was not paid in time: a day in the Congestion Charge zone, the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) or the Low Emission Zone, or a trip through the Blackwall or Silvertown tunnel.
Both kinds rest on cameras. TfL serves the notice by post on the person its records show as the owner, usually the DVLA registered keeper, and the keeper is liable whoever was driving. A borough's notice looks much the same but comes from the council; our council PCN guide covers the difference between a council notice and a private parking charge.
How much is a TfL PCN, and when does it go up?
A red route notice is £160, halved to £80 if TfL receives payment within the discount period the notice states, 14 days or 21 days. The rate has stood since 17 January 2022, when TfL raised it from £130 after a consultation. A Congestion Charge or ULEZ notice is £180, halved to £90 within 14 days; the Mayor's decision of November 2022 raised both from £160 from 30 January 2023.
The half rate is the only discount. If nothing is paid or challenged within 28 days, TfL can issue a charge certificate. That adds half again: £240 on a red route notice, £270 on a ULEZ notice. The amount keeps rising from there, as the "What happens if I do nothing" section sets out.
How long do I have?
Every stage runs on 28 days from the date the notice or letter is served. You have 28 days from the penalty charge notice to pay or to send TfL a representation, which is the formal word for a challenge. If TfL rejects it, its notice of rejection gives you 28 days to pay or to appeal to the tribunal. If the tribunal refuses the appeal, you have another 28 days to pay, normally at the full rate, before any further increase.
The half rate runs from the notice itself and does not wait for a challenge. For a red route notice, TfL says a representation received inside the discount period suspends the notice. If TfL rejects it and you decide to pay, the discount period resumes from where it stopped. A Congestion Charge or ULEZ notice carries no such promise on TfL's pages. The law does not make TfL offer the half rate again, and its rejection letter says what is due. The free check reads the dates on your notice and tells you which window you are in.
Who decides a challenge?
First TfL itself. A representation goes to TfL online or by post, and the adjudicators say an authority should normally answer within three months, with a notice of acceptance or a notice of rejection. An acceptance ends the matter and refunds anything paid.
Then London Tribunals, an independent tribunal with two panels. The Environment and Traffic Adjudicators hear red route, bus lane and moving traffic appeals; the Road User Charging Adjudicators hear Congestion Charge, ULEZ, Low Emission Zone and tunnel charge appeals. An appeal costs nothing, can be decided on the papers or at a hearing, and the decision binds both sides. The adjudicator can only allow an appeal on the statutory grounds, not on mitigation, though a refused appeal can carry a recommendation that TfL reconsider where there are compelling reasons.
The tribunal publishes its figures. In 2024-25 the Road User Charging Adjudicators received 18,492 appeals; their annual report records more than a third of closed cases allowed and about a quarter not contested by TfL. In October 2025 alone TfL issued 140,427 ULEZ penalty charge notices.
What are the grounds?
The grounds are fixed by law and are the same at TfL and at the tribunal. For a red route or moving traffic notice: the contravention did not occur, which includes signs and lines that did not say what the notice claims; you were not the owner at the time; the vehicle was taken without your consent; the vehicle is a hire firm's and the hirer accepted liability; or the penalty is more than the amount applicable. A parking notice adds procedural impropriety by TfL, an invalid traffic order, and a penalty already paid.
For a Congestion Charge, ULEZ or tunnel notice: you were not the liable person, meaning the registered keeper, at the time; the charge was paid as the scheme requires; no penalty is payable under the scheme; the vehicle was used without your consent; the penalty is more than the amount applicable; or the hire firm ground. Which ground fits, and what shows it, is the work of the challenge itself.
What happens if I do nothing?
The notice does not go away. After 28 days with no payment and no representation, TfL can issue a charge certificate for one and a half times the penalty. Fourteen days after that, TfL can register the debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre, which sends an order for recovery with a statutory declaration form, called a witness statement for a parking notice.
That form is not an appeal. It can only say that you never received the notice, that you made a representation and got no rejection, or that you appealed and got no answer, and it must go back within 21 days. If it is accepted, the registration is cancelled but the notice is not. If nothing goes back, TfL can ask the county court for a warrant, and enforcement agents can then recover the penalty and their own fees. Our guide on a bailiff at the door covers that stage.
Where do the free check and Docketory fit?
The free check reads your notice and its dates, says which stage you are at and whether a challenge is worth making, and what that would cost. If the representation window is open, Docketory drafts and submits the representation to TfL, and if TfL rejects it, prepares the appeal to London Tribunals for you. It never speaks for you at a hearing and never files at court.
What to do next
Note the date on the notice and count 14 and 28 days from it. Keep the notice, the photographs TfL links to, and every letter after it, and do not ignore a charge certificate or an order for recovery: each one starts its own clock.
Then check your ticket free. Docketory's Penalty Charge Notice service is from £19.99, plus £15 only if it goes to the tribunal. An order for recovery is a later stage, covered by Order for Recovery, from £29.99. Free help is available from Citizens Advice.
Sources
- Transport for London: increasing the fine level for drivers who fail to follow the rules on TfL managed roads (consultation and outcome, 10 January 2022)
- Transport for London: TfL set to increase fines for contraventions on London's red routes (press release, January 2022)
- Transport for London: red route penalty charge notices
- Transport for London: pay a red route penalty charge notice
- Transport for London: Congestion Charge penalties and enforcement
- Transport for London: penalty charges for ULEZ
- Transport for London: ULEZ key fact sheet, October to December 2025 (PDF)
- Transport for London: consolidated Low Emission Zone scheme order, article 14 (PDF)
- Mayor of London: MD3060, the London-wide ULEZ scheme (24 November 2022)
- London Tribunals: the appeals process explained
- London Tribunals: moving traffic PCN enforcement process
- London Tribunals: bus lane PCN enforcement process
- London Tribunals: parking PCN enforcement process
- London Tribunals: grounds of appeal for parking
- London Tribunals: road user charging, understanding the enforcement process
- London Tribunals: road user charging, grounds of appeal
- London Tribunals: your questions answered
- Road User Charging Adjudicators' annual report 2024-25 (PDF)
Last checked: 2 November 2026.
This is not legal advice. For advice on your specific situation, contact a solicitor or a free advice body such as Citizens Advice.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute guidance on your specific situation. Docketory is not a firm of solicitors. Communications with us are not protected by legal professional privilege. For help with your specific situation, contact us for a free assessment.
More guides on this topic
Westminster PCN: what it costs, the stages and how a challenge works
A penalty charge notice from Westminster City Council: the £160 and £110 levels, the half rate, the Notice to Owner, and the free tribunal that hears an appeal.