The Birmingham Clean Air Zone could generate up to £5.3 million in monthly fines
17 August 2021
The Birmingham Clean Air Zone (CAZ), which began charging on June 14 2021, has resulted in 44,106 fines to drivers of non-compliant vehicles who entered the zone but failed to pay the £8 daily charge for cars, taxis, vans and minibuses.
In order to be compliant with the clean air zone and avoid the daily charge, petrol vehicles must be manufactured to Euro 4 emission standards and diesel vehicles must be manufactured to Euro 6 emission standards.
The euro emission standard of a vehicle indicates how many oxides of nitrogen, hydrocarbons and particulate matter it emits. You can find more about each euro emission standard here.
Cars, taxis, vans and minibuses which do not meet the required euro emission standards of the Birmingham CAZ are subject to a daily charge of £8 – or £50 for HGVs and coaches - which becomes a £120 penalty charge if the charge is not paid within 6 days. The penalty is reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days.
During the first month of operation, the CAZ was entered by a daily average of 95,000 to 100,000 vehicles - 18.7 per cent of which were non-compliant.
If compliance does not improve, Birmingham City Council is set to receive £2.5 million to £5.3 million monthly in penalty fees.
Councillor Waseem Zaffar MBE, Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment at Birmingham City Council, said “It is very early days for the Clean Air Zone, but it is good to see a reduction in the number of non-compliant vehicles entering the zone and I remain committed to publishing regular updates about the operation and impact of the zone on traffic and air quality.
“I also want to take this opportunity to remind all drivers to check whether or not they will need to pay the daily fee by visiting www.brumbreathes.co.uk.
“And if they do need to pay the fee there is a comprehensive package of temporary and permanent exemptions and financial incentives that we will continue to use to help the transition to a clean air city.”
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