Open petition: Cap ‘pay later’ parking and toll penalties, and require a pay-on-exit option

Created by John Constable
Closes on 9 October 2026

Introduce legislation to cap penalties for “pay later” tolls and car parks and require operators to provide a clear pay-on-exit option. Where drivers forget to pay, additional reminder/collection charges must be capped at a small administrative fee (for example £5) before a larger penalty.

Many tolls and car parks now require drivers to remember to pay later online. If they forget, they can receive mammoth penalties for an original charge of only a few pounds. We believe this punishes forgetfulness, not dishonesty, and disproportionately affects busy people, carers, parents and those with attention or memory difficulties. Operators should be required to provide pay-on-exit options and to limit penalties to reasonable administrative costs so genuine mistakes are not treated like deliberate non-payment.

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