A diplomatic vehicle from the Embassy of Cuba in London set an annual record by accumulating £52,200 —equivalent to about $69,921— in fines for not paying the congestion charge in the city center between July 2025 and June 2026.
According to data obtained by MyLondon through a freedom of information request directed to the London transport authority Transport for London (TfL), over a period of twelve months, the vehicle with Cuban diplomatic plates received 290 penalty notices, which amounts to more than five violations per working week.
TfL stated that it is unaware of the exact model of the car and that the license plate may have been used on different vehicles throughout the year.
The Cuban embassy is located at 167 High Holborn, just a few minutes from Tottenham Court Road station, in the heart of the congestion charge zone.
Any vehicle that travels through that area between 7:00 AM and 6:00 PM from Monday to Friday —or between 12:00 PM and 6:00 PM on weekends and holidays— must pay £18 daily.
Those who do not pay receive a fine of £180, which is reduced to £90 if paid within two weeks, but rises to £270 if left unpaid after 28 days.
TfL and the British Government argue that the congestion charge is payment for a service, not a tax, and therefore diplomats are not exempt from paying it. A spokesperson for the organization was straightforward on the matter: “Both we and the UK Government are clear that the congestion charge is payment for a service and not a tax. This means that diplomats are not exempt from paying it.”
However, TfL lacks coercive mechanisms to charge diplomatic missions and must rely on pressure through diplomatic channels.
The spokesperson acknowledged that the situation continues without resolution: "Most embassies in London do pay the fee, but there is a stubborn minority that refuses to do so, despite our diplomatic efforts. We will continue to pursue all congestion charges and unpaid penalty notices."
The case of the Cuban vehicle is not an isolated incident, but rather the most recent expression of a debt that has been growing for years. According to TfL records, the total accumulated debt of the Cuban embassy with that organization exceeded £2,996,540 at the end of March 2025.
In 2022, that figure was £2,446,640, and in 2013, it was already around one million pounds with over 8,800 unpaid fines.
At the global level, the diplomatic missions accredited in London owed a total of over £164 million in unpaid congestion fines as of the end of September 2025.
The largest debtor is the United States embassy, with over £15 million accumulated since the fee was introduced in 2003. Following are China, with £11.5 million, and Japan, with £10.9 million.
MyLondon contacted the Cuban embassy to request a statement, but at the time of publication, no response had been received.
The new British Prime Minister has clashed with Cuba on other fronts recently, while the United Kingdom has warned about the critical situation on the island, adding tension to the already deteriorating bilateral relationship.
TfL has urged the Government to increase pressure on embassies that refuse to pay, in a context where the accumulated diplomatic debt has been steadily growing since the charge was introduced more than two decades ago.
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