Sadiq Khan has been accused of treating EU drivers "like cash cows", after European governments accused Transport for London (TfL) of wrongly sending out hundreds of thousands of Ulez fines.
Five EU nations have accused Transport for London (TfL) of illegally obtaining the names and addresses of their citizens visiting the British capital to issue more than 320,000 penalties.
The penalty notices first started being sent out in 2021, when Sadiq Khan’s Clear Air scheme was first launched, and some total as high as thousands of euros.
Conservative Mayoral candidate for London Susan Hall demanded an urgent investigation, adding that it is "telling that even Sadiq Khan's friends in the EU are saying he can't treat drivers like cash cows."
Sadiq Khan has been accused of treating EU drivers "like cash cows"
PA
She told GB News: "These are incredibly serious allegations that must be investigated urgently. There can be absolutely no justification for illegally obtaining people's private information to enforce Sadiq Khan's unfair ULEZ expansion.
"It is telling that even Sadiq Khan's friends in the EU are saying he can't treat drivers like cash cows.
"As Mayor, I will scrap his Ulez expansion on day one and ensure these allegations are looked into."
This came after Belgian MP Michael Freilich accused TfL of using European drivers as a “cash cow”.
He added: “This is possibly one of the largest privacy and data breaches in EU history, but so far no concrete action has been taken while responsibilities are being shunted on to drivers."
Since Brexit, the UK cannot automatically access the personal information of EU residents, and five European countries have accused TfL of illegally obtaining the information.
France, Germany, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands have claimed that the details of the drivers were acquired by Euro Parking Collection, the contractor who enforces Ulez overseas.
Over 100 French drivers are suing TfL due to the alleged fraudulent means used to acquire their personal information, whilst truck drivers from the Netherlands and challenging over £6.5milliion worth of fines.
Some of the vehicles fined have been misclassed as heavy goods diesel vehicles, which can incur penalties of up to £2,000 a day.
Many of the drivers who were given fines were not aware that they had to register their vehicles prior to coming to London. Therefore, those who planned a spontaneous trip to the capital were essentially guaranteed a fine.
Freilich said: “This is possibly one of the largest privacy and data breaches in EU history, but so far no concrete action has been taken while responsibilities are being shunted on to drivers.”
He has asked ministers to raise the issue during the current Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU.
TfL has justified the penalty notices as it was unable to determine whether the vehicles were compliant or not as they were not registered.
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A TfL spokesperson said: “Any company working on our behalf is contractually required to ensure that data is processed in line with the relevant data protection legislation.
"We work closely with European Parking Collection (EPC) to ensure all elements of the contract are being adhered to and have mechanisms in place should they not be fulfilled.
"EPC make it clear when they submit requests for keeper data in EU countries that they are acting on behalf of TfL, for enforcement of road user charging in London, even when they route those requests through a third party.
"EPC has not been prevented from accessing keeper data for drivers in EU countries. Despite an absence of country-to-country data sharing agreements, we understand that under local laws, some vehicle licensing authorities are obliged to share vehicle owner information with authorities outside of their country to assist with the enforcement of traffic regulations."
