London bill: Namibia disputes N$14m congestion charge

The Namibian High Commission in London is relying on a 63-year-old diplomatic convention to justify not paying a N$14.2 million congestion charge in the United Kingdom (UK).This comes after Transport for London (TfL), which oversees that city’s transport network, included Namibia’s high commission on a list of 161 London-based embassies, consulates and high commissions that collectively owe it in excess of N$28 billion in unpaid fees and fines accrued by diplomats between the launch of the congestion charge in 2003 and the end of last year.The charge involves a N$294 daily fee for driving within an area of central London between 07:00 and 18:00 on weekdays, and between noon and 18:00 on weekends and public holidays. It is aimed at reducing traffic congestion, air and noise pollution in central London as well as raising investment funds for the city’s transport system.Not payingBut like many other embassies featured on the list of defaulters, Namibia is not planning to pay up. It claimed that the country is exempt from the charge because it is a tax.Namibia’s high commissioner to the UK Linda Scott confirmed Namibia’s position yesterday when approached by this publication.“The Namibian High Commission, like the majority of other missions in the UK, has not recognised this as a charge, but a tax. Accordingly, within the framework of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Privileges, the mission is not required to pay tax,” she said.The Namibian government has further urged the UK authorities to fully implement the Vienna Convention, instead of doing so selectively.Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, local taxes do not apply to foreign diplomats, in essence providing them with diplomatic immunity from enforcement.ExemptGlobal powerhouses the United States of America and Japan, who allegedly owe about N$2.8 billion and N$2 billion respectively, have declined to pay up, claiming diplomatic immunity from the fines.“In accordance with international law, as reflected in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, our position is that the congestion charge is a tax from which diplomatic missions are exempt,” CNN quoted a US embassy spokesperson in London as having said.“Our long-standing position is shared by many other diplomatic missions in London,” the spokesperson added.CNN also reported that the Japanese embassy in London indicated that “the government of Japan is of the view that the charge corresponds to neither ‘dues and taxes... such as represent payment for specific services rendered’ nor ‘charges levied for specific services rendered’, as stipulated in the relevant international conventions, and therefore the embassy, its diplomatic agents and their family members should be exempt from the charge.”WarningTfL has threatened to drag those who do not comply to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). “We and the UK government are clear that the congestion charge is a charge for a service and not a tax,” TfL said in a statement.“This means that diplomats are not exempt from paying it. The majority of embassies in London do pay the charge, but there remains a stubborn minority who refuse to do so, despite our representations through diplomatic channels. We will continue to pursue all unpaid congestion charge fees and related penalty charge notices and are pushing for the matter to be taken up at the ICJ,” it said in a statement.London mayor Sadiq Khan reportedly told the press that the hundreds of millions of pounds of unpaid congestion charge fines owed by embassies are “beyond [his] pay grade”.The capital’s mayor said the issue - which has developed over two decades - was based on a dispute over an international convention which he has no power to “renegotiate”.

London bill: Namibia disputes N$14m congestion charge

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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London bill: Namibia disputes N$14m congestion charge

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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