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 failing to pay 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 twelve-month period, the vehicle with Cuban diplomatic plates received 290 penalty notices, which amounts to more than five violations per business 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, right in the heart of the congestion charge zone.
Any vehicle operating in 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 settled within two weeks, but increases to £270 if unpaid after 28 days.
TfL and the British Government assert that the congestion charge is a payment for a service, not a tax, and therefore diplomats are not exempt from paying it. A spokesperson for the organization was clear on the matter: "Both we and the UK Government are clear that the congestion charge is a 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 resort to pressure through diplomatic channels.
The spokesperson acknowledged that the situation persists without resolution: "Most embassies in London do pay the charge, but there is a stubborn minority that refuses to do so, despite our diplomatic efforts. We will continue to pursue all congestion fees and unpaid penalty notices."
The case of the Cuban vehicle is not an isolated incident, but rather the latest expression of a debt that has been growing for years. According to TfL records, the total accumulated debt of the Cuban embassy to 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 a million pounds with more than 8,800 unpaid fines.
At a global scale, the diplomatic missions accredited in London owed a total of over £164 million in unpaid congestion fines by the end of September 2025.
The largest debtor is the United States Embassy, with over £15 million accumulated since the charge 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 by the time of publication, no response had been received.
The new British Prime Minister has collided with Cuba on other fronts recently, while the United Kingdom has raised concerns about the critical situation on the island, which adds tension to the already strained bilateral relationship.
TfL has urged the Government to escalate pressure on the embassies that refuse to pay, amid a context where the accumulated diplomatic debt has continued to grow since the introduction of the charge over two decades ago.
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