The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about low emission zone penalty charge notices as they have been cancelled and there is insufficient remaining injustice caused to the complainant to warrant our further involvement.
The complaint
Mr X complains Transport for London (TfL) wrongly issued him with penalty charge notices (PCNs) for driving in its ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) when his vehicle was compliant. TfL cancelled the PCNs, but Mr X is left feeling offended and harassed and would like his postage costs of £12.35 refunding.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
I recognise that Mr X remains unhappy about what took place but there is insufficient remaining injustice to him to justify our further involvement, given TfL cancelled the PCNs. We have limited resources and must direct them to the more serious cases; we would generally not investigate a complaint to achieve a refund of postage costs of the manner Mr X has incurred.
I have also considered if there are public interest grounds for us to investigate. TfL’s register cannot hold the details of every compliant vehicle at any one time but is updated regularly when new details are provided from various sources. Mr X provided such details of compliance, and TfL took the appropriate action by cancelling the PCNs and updating its register. As such, I do not consider Mr X’s complaint raises wider concerns that would warrant our involvement.
For these reasons we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient remaining injustice caused to him to justify our further involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman