Drivers passing through Dartford Crossing in southeast England were mistakenly handed fines totalling more than £4 million in 12 months, an investigation has found.
Freedom of Information figures obtained by the PA news agency showed that 59,007 penalty charge notices (PCNs) were cancelled in the year after National Highways switched to a new provider to oversee toll payments.
The cancelled fines amounted to £4.1 million, with each PCN originally set at £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 14 days.
The previous year, National Highways—which operates and maintains motorways in England—cancelled 3,595 PCNs.
Private firm Conduent was awarded a £150 million contract by National Highways to manage crossing payments from 28 July, 2023.
After the appointment, there were reports of drivers wrongly fined when a vehicle with a similar license plate used the crossing. Motorists have also reported issues when making payments or managing accounts.
Incorrectly Identified Vehicle
Motorists must pay the Dartford Crossing charge by midnight the day after they cross, or face paying a PCN. Prices for one-off payments range from £2.50 for cars to £6 for lorries.Dunne told the PA news agency that a mistake by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras on the crossing led to the issue of PCNs.
The cameras incorrectly identified a vehicle as Dunne’s car because it had a number plate similar to hers. Dunne tried to address the situation by phoning the Dart Charge contact centre but struggled to resolve the issue.
“I had no idea what was happening. At the beginning I got quite upset. I thought my number plate had been cloned so I contacted the police. It turned out the cameras were faulty.
“It’s taken an awful lot of my time and wasted a lot of my energy. I rang them so many times.
“I never felt like they were treating it urgently even though it was happening so frequently.
“They’re very unforgiving if you make a mistake, but they don’t care if they make a mistake. They’ve never properly apologised,” she said.
Frustrated Motorists
National Highways has acknowledged there were problems with the transition to the new provider.After Conduent took over the management and operation of the toll payments, crossing users were required to re-validate payment cards.
However, driver Sarah Rodwell-Dodsworth, 37, from Ipswich, Suffolk said she was not aware of the requirement.
“We had an account set up, there was no reason for the card to be removed. It’s quite frustrating. I’ve never had a fine (for the Dartford Crossing) until this occasion.
“In our opinion, we were trying to be law-abiding citizens paying the toll as required, and were punished off the back of that. It almost feels like they want to catch you out,” she told PA.
The National Highways has apologised for the inconvenience caused to the drivers.
“There were technical issues with the transition to the new service providers, which resulted in an increased number of PCNs issued and an increase in cancelled PCNs.
“We regret that some customers have experienced issues when making payments and managing their accounts following the transition to the new Dart Charge service providers.
“We understand that anything associated with finances can be stressful, and we apologise for the inconvenience that these customers have faced.
“In the minority of circumstances where PCNs are issued in error, the charge will be cancelled as soon as a customer contacts us to let us know. We have resolved the issues and seen the errors reduce to less than 1 percent of all PCNs issued,” the body said.
