An entrepreneur has launched a bitter attack on Transport for London (TfL) after bosses there scuppered his plans to launch an online payment scheme for the congestion charge.
Charles Mansfield-Osborne, of Stanford Avenue, Brighton, wanted to make it easy for people to avoid penalty fees by allowing them to set up an account which would be charged automatically when they entered the zone.
Customers would have paid an annual administration fee of £25 but would not have had to worry about late payment charges or stopping to find a pay station every time they travelled into central London.
Mr Mansfield-Osborne, 27, had invested £3,000 in the project and even set up a web site - www.congestioncity.com - but TfL, which allows similar schemes for fleet vehicles, had other ideas.
He claims TfL initially tried to block his plans by insisting he provided copies of his customers' V5 vehicle registration certificates and insurance policies. That, he said, would have deterred customers because of the hassle involved.
After he questioned them about it and after he had written to the Office of Fair Trading, TfL said it would not accept any payments through his web site.
Now Mr Mansfield-Osborne is considering possible legal action against TfL, which he claims might be in breach of competition laws.
He said: "I didn't realise it was meant to be difficult for people to pay the charge. They have tried to stop me at every turn and I can only think this is because they don't want to make it easy for people.
"It's just reselling - a tried and tested business model - but they are not having it."
A TfL statement said: "All vehicles eligible for the fleet scheme must be performing a function of the business to which they are registered, as defined in the scheme order.
"This is verified through supporting documents which may include vehicle registration and insurance certificates.
"Drivers registering with this company (Mr Mansfield-Osborne's) are not eligible for the fleet scheme as they are not performing a function for the business."
June 29, 2005
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