Newcastle Clean Air Zone: Van driver warns motorists over CAZ scams
A van driver has warned motorists to keep an eye out for unofficial websites claiming to take payments for Newcastle’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ).
Jeff Pickthall, from Heaton, spotted one such site when he was trying to look up the boundaries of the anti-pollution zone as he needed to use his Citroen van to make a delivery.
The 56-year-old realised the website was not an official one after it requested a £14 payment rather than the £12.50 charge that vans must pay to enter the CAZ if they do not meet its environmental restrictions.
Newcastle City Council has warned drivers to only use the official payment system gov.uk/clean-air-zones.
Mr Pickthall told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I was not really in danger of paying them the fee, but I was just astounded by the brazenness of it all. It could trick someone who is perhaps a bit more vulnerable than I am.”
He added: “I put myself in the shoes of my mother, who is 80. She would be baffled by it.”
He said the top result he found on Google was a sponsored post directing users to an unofficial website charging more than the necessary payment.
The website also asks users to make the payment after entering their licence plate number, even if that registration is for a private car, which would be completely exempt from all tolls in the Newcastle CAZ.
The site states that it is "not connected to or affiliated with the https://www.gov.uk/clean-air-zones site or any other official authority administering, regulating or overseeing the Clean Air Zone charge".
It adds that it charges a "service fee for assisting you in the application and payment of driving in Clean Air Zone".
In September, Newcastle City Council said it was aware that a number of motorists had paid a fee for driving in the zone, only to realise later that they did not have to pay or that the payment had not been registered, resulting in them receiving a Penalty Charge Notice.
Labour councillor Irim Ali said at the time: “There are a number of third party websites and providers offering to manage Clean Air Zone payments on behalf of drivers but people need to be aware that these are not official payment channels.
“Unfortunately many people who have used these websites have found themselves not only paying extra charges but going on to receive a Penalty Charge Notice because their original CAZ fee hadn’t in fact been paid.
“We’re also aware that drivers with compliant vehicles who were not required to pay a CAZ fee have been charged anyway by these unofficial and misleading sites.
“That’s why we are reminding drivers to ensure they use only the official payment system for all Clean Air Zone transactions.”
Only older and more polluting taxis, vans, buses, coaches and heavy goods vehicles that don’t meet national emissions standards have to pay a charge to enter the Newcastle CAZ, with the toll being either £12.50 or £50.
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