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| Minicabs including Uber to pay London congestion charge | Minicabs including Uber to pay London congestion charge |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Private hire vehicles, including Uber and minicabs, will have to pay the Transport for London (TfL) congestion charge. | Private hire vehicles, including Uber and minicabs, will have to pay the Transport for London (TfL) congestion charge. |
| Under new plans by TfL, the vehicles will no longer be exempt from the daily £11.50 rate for driving in central London. | Under new plans by TfL, the vehicles will no longer be exempt from the daily £11.50 rate for driving in central London. |
| TfL said the proposals had been drawn up in a bid to improve the capital's air quality. | TfL said the proposals had been drawn up in a bid to improve the capital's air quality. |
| The changes will come into force from 8 April. | |
| In the first phase, only zero-emission vehicles will still be exempt from paying the congestion charge - which was introduced in 2003. | |
| TfL said since the charge began 15 years ago, the number of vehicles entering central London each day has decreased by about 30%. | |
| The announcement follows a consultation which TfL said received 10,000 responses. | |
| 'Filthy air' | |
| Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said "toxic air pollution" in the capital was creating "a major public health crisis". | |
| "We have to make tough decisions to protect the health and wellbeing of Londoners and tackle harmful emissions from the most polluting vehicles. | |
| "Now we need private hire vehicles and taxis to play their part and help us clean up our filthy air responses." | |
| TfL said it would consult on proposals to reduce the taxi age limit for the dirtiest vehicles to 12 years by 2022. | |
| A spokesman added: "The 15-year age limit would be strictly mandated in 2019, with a proposed reduction in the age limit each year until a 12 year age limit is reached." | |
| The age limit for Euro 6, LPG and ZEC taxi vehicles is proposed to remain at 15 years. | |
| Analysis | |
| By Tom Edwards, BBC London transport correspondent | |
| Broadly what we are seeing here is regulation catching up with the disrupters. | |
| According to the mayor, the rise of hailing apps like Uber has led to a huge increase in private hire vehicles driving round waiting for work. | |
| Now Sadiq Khan has taken action and will make them pay the congestion charge. | |
| Concerns come from the GMB (union) that this will close minicab offices and cost jobs - the increase could also be passed on to customers. | |
| The black cab trade will also not be happy that the age limit is being reduced. They will fear a huge amount of equity is going to be wiped off the value of their cabs. | |
| But the message from City Hall is clear - first and foremost Londoners want cleaner air and do not want polluting vehicles in their city. |