How much is the London Congestion Charge in 2026?

The daily charge is £18 from 2 January 2026, up from £15. If you pay within three days after travelling rather than in advance or on the day, the late rate is £21. Miss the deadline and you get a £160 Penalty Charge Notice, reduced to £80 if paid within 14 days.

Do electric cars still get free entry to the Congestion Charge zone?

No. The 100% EV exemption ended on 25 December 2025. From January 2026, electric cars registered on Auto Pay get a 25% discount, paying £13.50 a day. Electric vans, HGVs and quadricycles on Auto Pay pay £9. EVs not registered on Auto Pay pay the full £18.

What hours does the Congestion Charge apply?

Monday to Friday from 7am to 6pm, and Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays from 12pm to 6pm. The only days the charge does not apply are 25 December to 1 January inclusive. Bank holidays are now chargeable at the weekend rate, which is a change from previous years.

Is the Congestion Charge the same as ULEZ?

No, they are two separate schemes. The Congestion Charge is £18 and only runs during set hours in central London. ULEZ is £12.50 and runs 24/7 across all London boroughs up to the M25 for vehicles that don't meet emissions standards. You can pay both on the same day if your vehicle is non-compliant and you drive in the central zone.

How do I pay the London Congestion Charge?

You can pay online at tfl.gov.uk, through the free TfL Pay to Drive app on iOS or Android, or by setting up Auto Pay so TfL bills your card monthly for days you actually drove in the zone. Auto Pay is the only route to the EV discount and the 90% residents' discount. You cannot pay in shops or petrol stations.

What happens if I forget to pay the Congestion Charge?

You have until midnight on the third day after travel to pay at the late rate of £21. After that, TfL issues a Penalty Charge Notice of £160, which drops to £80 if paid within 14 days. Ignore it for 28 days and a Charge Certificate pushes it to £240, with further enforcement after that.

London traffic congestion charge: what it costs you in 2026

From 2 January 2026, driving into central London during charging hours costs £18 a day, up from £15. Miss the deadline and you're staring at a £160 penalty, so the rules are worth getting right before you set off.

£18 a day. That's the new headline price for the London traffic congestion charge from 2 January 2026, a 20% jump on the £15 fee that had stood since 2020. The London Mayor Sadiq Khan and TfL have announced that the daily Congestion Charge will increase from £15 to £18 from January 2nd, 2026. The bigger shock for many drivers is what's happened to the electric vehicle exemption, which has now gone. If you drive into the zone in an EV without setting up Auto Pay, you'll pay the full £18 same as a petrol car.

This guide breaks down the 2026 rules, the new tiered discount for cleaner vehicles, the late-payment trap at £21, and how to keep a Penalty Charge Notice out of your post. If you're a regular visitor to Soho, the City or Covent Garden, the maths has changed and it's worth a fresh look.

What the congestion charge actually is

The Congestion Charge is a daily fee for driving most vehicles inside a defined zone of central London. Inspired by Singapore's Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system after London officials had travelled to the country, the charge was first introduced on 17 February 2003. The zone covers the City of London, the West End and chunks of Camden, Lambeth and Southwark. The Congestion Charge Zone covers most of central London including the City of Westminster, the City of London and parts of the London Boroughs of Camden, Lambeth and Southwark.

Enforcement is automatic. TfL enforces using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras throughout the zone. All entries and exits are logged and checked against the payment database. There's no toll booth, no barrier, no warning. If your number plate is captured during charging hours and you haven't paid, the system knows.

When the charge applies in 2026

The hours haven't moved. Mon–Fri 7am–6pm, Sat–Sun & bank holidays 12pm–6pm. What has changed is how bank holidays are treated. Bank holidays are now charged at the weekend rate (12:00–18:00). Only the Christmas period (25 December to 1 January inclusive) is free. This is different from the previous scheme where all bank holidays were free. So if you used to nip into town on Easter Monday or August Bank Holiday for free, that loophole has closed.

Outside charging hours you can drive in and out of the zone freely. Park up at 6:30pm on a Tuesday and you owe nothing. Drive through at 6:55am the next day and you owe £18 for the whole day.

Worth knowing: The 20mph speed limit applies across the whole Congestion Charge Zone. Combine that with average-speed cameras and red-light enforcement, and a single trip can rack up multiple separate fines if you're not paying attention.

The 2026 price list: £18, £21 and £160

There are three numbers to remember.

£18 if you pay in advance, on the day of travel, or via Auto Pay.
£21 if you pay within three days after travelling.
£160 Penalty Charge Notice if you don't pay at all.

The new scheme gives you 3 days after travel to pay — but the rate is £21 (not £18). After 3 days, a £160 Penalty Charge Notice is issued. The PCN drops if you settle quickly, but escalates fast if you ignore it. If paid within 14 days, this drops to £90, but if it isn't paid within 28 days a Charge Certificate is issued and it increases to £270 - and there are further penalties beyond this.

In plain terms: a single forgotten trip can cost more than two MOTs. Worth a calendar reminder.

Electric vehicles: the big 2026 change

For years, EV ownership in London came with a powerful perk: free entry into the zone. That perk has ended. A significant change for drivers of electric vehicles is also being introduced. The current 100% discount for electric cars will end on 25 December 2025. From January 2026 electric cars registered for Auto Pay will move to a reduced rate that reflects a new tiered discount structure.

The new Cleaner Vehicle Discount works like this:

Electric cars on Auto Pay: 25% off, so £13.50 a day.
Electric vans, HGVs and quadricycles on Auto Pay: 50% off, so £9 a day.
EVs without Auto Pay: full £18, no discount.

Electric cars: 25% discount — pay £13.50/day (instead of £18) when registered on Auto Pay Electric vans, HGVs & quadricycles: 50% discount — pay £9/day (instead of £18) when registered on Auto Pay Without Auto Pay registration, no discount applies and the full £18 is charged. Auto Pay registration is free and you can set it up directly with TfL by adding your vehicle to a London Road User Charging account.

There's more bad news on the horizon for EV drivers. From March 4, 2030, further changes in the congestion charge are expected as EV adoption is predicted to grow. TfL plans to decrease electric cars' discount from 25 percent to 12.5 percent and electric vans, HGVs and quadricycles will be given a 25 percent discount. So today's £13.50 EV rate is unlikely to be the floor for long.

Residents and Blue Badge holders

If you live inside the zone, you keep a meaningful discount. Residents living within or very close to the zone are eligible for a 90% discount which is charged via CC Autopay. On £18 a day, that's £1.80 per charging day for residents who keep their Auto Pay account in good standing.

There's a catch coming for newcomers, though. Residents who live within the congestion charging zone will continue to receive a 90% discount, although new applicants from March 2027 will only qualify for this reduction if they drive an electric vehicle. Existing residents with the discount will keep their entitlement regardless of vehicle type. So if you're planning a move into a central postcode and want the discount, vehicle choice matters from 2027 onwards.

Blue Badge holders, NHS patients too unwell for public transport, NHS staff on official business and care home workers all have routes to discounts or reimbursements. It's worth checking the TfL eligibility list rather than assuming you have to pay full whack.

Congestion Charge vs ULEZ: don't get them confused

These are two separate schemes and you can pay both on the same day. Another common misunderstanding is confusing the Congestion Charge with ULEZ. ULEZ is about emissions compliance and runs all day, every day; the Congestion Charge is about congestion and runs only during set hours. Because the central areas overlap, you can face both charges on the same day, so it is worth checking both obligations rather than assuming one charge covers all London road pricing.

ULEZ now covers every London borough up to (but not including) the M25, and the daily fee for non-compliant vehicles is £12.50. Vehicles that don't meet specific emission standards incur an additional charge of £12.50 per day to drive in the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). The ULEZ area operates across all London boroughs and does not include the M25. Drive an older diesel into Soho on a Wednesday morning and you could owe £18 + £12.50 = £30.50 for a single day before you've even parked. You can check whether your vehicle is ULEZ-compliant using the Fixaroo ULEZ checker before you set off.

How to pay (and how to avoid forgetting)

There are three sensible ways to pay:

Auto Pay: the system bills your card monthly for any days you actually drove in the zone. No remembering, no late fees, and it's the only route to EV and resident discounts.
TfL Pay to Drive app: a free iOS and Android app for one-off trips.
TfL website: pay up to 90 days in advance, or up to three days after travel at the £21 late rate.

You can't pay the Congestion Charge in shops and petrol stations. This was withdrawn in 2013. So don't expect to settle up at the kiosk on your way home.

Worth knowing: If you only drive into the zone once or twice a year, the app is fine. If you're in there even one day a month, Auto Pay pays for itself the first time you forget. The £3 gap between £18 and £21 is small, but the £160 PCN gap is not.

What this means for your motoring budget

For a commuter driving into central London five days a week, the charge alone now adds up to £90 a week, or roughly £4,500 a year before fuel, parking or ULEZ. For most people that maths points firmly towards the Tube, but for delivery drivers, trades, carers and shift workers without a public transport option, the £3 daily increase is just absorbed into running costs.

If you're rethinking what to drive, an EV with Auto Pay is currently the cheapest way to enter the zone at £13.50, and it dodges ULEZ entirely. Whatever you drive, keeping it serviced and MOT-ready matters more when every mile costs more, so it's worth knowing where your nearest decent garage is. You can compare MOT centres in London or browse local services near you on Fixaroo. And before you drive into town, a quick MOT check takes thirty seconds and rules out one of the silliest ways to get fined in London.

The bottom line for 2026

£18 a day, charging hours unchanged, bank holidays now in scope, and EVs no longer free. This is the first increase since 2020, and TfL said it's necessary to stop an extra 2,000 vehicles trucking through the busy zone on an average weekday. Whether you think that justifies the rise or not, the system is fully automated and the penalty is steep. Set up Auto Pay if you visit even occasionally, check your vehicle's status with TfL before your first trip of 2026, and treat the £160 PCN as the real price of complacency.