
Congestion Charge fines could soon be easier to avoid as Transport for London (TfL) moots plans to implement a payment-account system.
Under the new plans, drivers will be able to pre-register their bank details and vehicle registration number and pay the £8 daily fee automatically from the account when entering the Congestion Zone.
TfL says the scheme could be up and running "sometime in 2010" once the IT services unit of IBM takes over the administrative role of the Congestion Charge from computer services firm Capita.
More than 100,000 late-payment fines are issued every month and approximately nine million have been issued since the toll was introduced in February 2003.