UK government confirms it has no plans for pay-per-mile road pricing

Despite rumours and fervent campaigning from some quarters, the UK government has denied that it has any plans to introduce pay-per-mile road pricing this Autumn. We can hear truckers across the nation breathe a giant sigh of relief.

In an official statement, a Government spokesperson said: “We have no plans to introduce road pricing. We are committed to supporting our automotive sector as we transition to electric vehicles in order to meet our legally binding climate targets.”

If the model had been introduced, it would have potentially seen the current road tax and fuel duty revenues rolled into one pay-as-you-drive fee. It was never clear exactly what approach was going to be taken, but fleet operators with big lorries might have been in-line for some seriously hefty road charges.

Campaigners argue that a pay-per-mile model would be a fairer way of divvying up the Treasury’s need to generate revenue from motorists, by making those using the roads the most pay the most.

While some feel this is the right time to introduce a radical new structure, the lack of finer detail has raised plenty of questions around how the mileage would be calculated, how miles driven abroad would be taken into account and whether an increase in surveillance would infringe on UK folks’ liberty – to touch on only a few.

The Department for Transport (DfT) cited the decisions to introduce vehicle excise duty (VED) on electric cars from April 2025, and move the petrol-diesel phase-out back to 2030 as its focussed commitments for road transport. So is it good news?