The Ultra Low Emmission Zone (ULEZ) which will start in London on 8 April 2019 is aimed at cutting out/down on polluting vehicles in the London area. The ULEZ will initially operate within the existing Congestion Charging Zone but will extend to the boundries of the North Circular (A406) and South Circular (A205) roads on 25 October 2021. The ULEZ will, in addition to commercial vehicles, also cover cars and motorcycles. See the map on the TfL website for more information.

The present Low Emission Zone (LEZ) and which covers the whole of the Greater London Area, will continue to operate for commercial and private vehicles such as HGV’s, lorries over 3.5 Tonnes, coaches, minibuses and, vans etc. driving within the Greater London area.

Czech and other foreign registered vehicles which have engines that meet the LEZ standard should register on the Transport for London (TfL) website in order to avoid the LEZ charges. But from 8 April 2019 all vehicles travelling within the Congestion Charging Zone (which has a separate charge that has to be paid for in addition to the ULEZ) will be included and only those with the following engine types (minimum) will be exempted from the charge:

• Euro 3 for motorcycles, mopeds, motorised tricycles and quadricycles (L category)
• Euro 4 for petrol cars, vans, minibuses and other specialist vehicles
• Euro 6 for diesel cars, vans and minibuses and other specialist vehicles
• Euro VI for lorries, buses and coaches and other specialist heavy vehicles

It is expected that all foreign registered vehicles will have to register on the TfL website for ULEZ, however no details have been released as yet as to how to do this. Presently large vehicles such as HGV’s, lorries, coaches/buses and some smaller ones have to already register their vehicle’s details (up to 10 days in advance of their first journey to the London area) so as to avoid the LEZ charge. If a vehicle is not registered it is automatically fined once it enters the zone as not being in compliance with the standards even though it may be. The standards for the ULEZ may be higher than those for the LEZ and owners of vehicles should check that they will be compliant.

The ULEZ will operate 24/7 and the cost for non-compliant cars, vans and motorbikes will be GBP12.50 per day and GBP100 for HGV’s, lorries and coaches if driving within the area. The current fines for non-payment are GBP130 or GBP65 if it is paid within 14 Days of the date on the penalty notice and GBP1000 (GBP500 if paid within 14 days of the date) for HGV’s, coaches etc. The firm ‘Euro Parking Collection’ currently handles the collection of fines for foreign registered vehicles and does send penalty notices to the registered keepers of Czech vehicles.  

Other UK cities such as Birmingham, Leeds, Edinburgh and, Glasgow (and others) will also be setting up their own Clean Air Zones/Low Emission Zones from January 2020 and will have their own registration systems.

https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/larger-vehicles?intcmp=54371#on-this-page-2

https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone

https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/ulez-where-and-when

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/advice-for-smes/avoid-london-ulez-charge/

https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/20076/pollution/1763/a_clean_air_zone_for_birmingham