UAE mission 'UK's biggest defaulter' :: Gulf News

Quote:

Dubai: The UAE is the UK's biggest congestion charge defaulter, according to media reports.

The UAE embassy in London has accumulated a deficit of £452,650 (about Dh2,950,000), more than any other embassy in London, according to a list released by the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

A bit ironic given Dubai's plan to introduce tolls to cut down on highway traffic congestion.

This is publicity the UAE is getting in London from The Independent:

The worst offender is the United Arab Emirates, whose embassy in south Kensington has accumulated 4,859 fines worth more than £450,000. Between them the worst ten offenders alone owe £1.9 million from 20,804 unpaid fines.

And, from the Financial Times:

The United Arab Emirates, with £452,650, and Angola with £392,750, topped the list of missions with the most outstanding congestion charge fines. In a list dominated by developing countries, the US made an entry at 10, with 933 congestion charge fines worth £62,250.

The US and other countries contend the congestion charge on motorists entering central London is a form of tax from which embassies are immune. Since May, Germany has stopped paying the charge although its embassy is outside the zone.

Other leading non-payers in the period since introduction of the charge in 2003 and November 10, 2005 are Sudan, Nigeria, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe.