The Satellite Tax Spy – In Car Box to Log Your Road Levies

Daily Mail, Thursday, October 27th 2005
By Ray Massey, Transport Editor

Satellite navigation systems popular with a growing number of drivers could be used by the Government to collect a pay-as-you-drive road tax.

Black-box technology being introduced by insurance companies could also be co-opted to help levy road charges of up to £1.34 a mile from motorists.

In both cases the manufacturers will bear the cost of installing the systems – and the risk I they don't work. That means Transport Secretary Alistair Darling would not have to set up an expensive and possibly shambolic Government-funded computer system.

Sat-nav producers and insurance companies would also be responsible for collecting the tax and passing it on to the Treasury. In return they would receive a financial cut of the proceeds.

A national pilot could be running within five years, and a nationwide system within a decade under plans revealed yesterday by Mr Darling at a conference organised by Tony Blair's favourite think-tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Both sat-nav and Norwich Union's pay-as-you-drive insurance systems rely at their heart on a ‘black-box.' This is essentially a box of micro-chips hidden behind the dashboard which allows the car to be tracked by satellite, keeping a record of its movements.

Mr Darling wants these ‘black-boxes' programmed so they can also tot up how much each driver owes the Government in tolls – and arrange for this sum to be collected and sent to the Treasury.

But critics condemned the move as a Big Brother stealth tax. Mark McArthur-Christie, of the Association of British Drivers said: “The Government is outing a tax collector into every car. People sign up for a system but what they get is stealth tax.”

While most new cars will have sat-nav systems within ten years there will be older cars that have no means of tracking. In this case a much higher straightforward road tax could be charged, making it worthwhile for the driver to have a system fitted. Mr Darling said he wants to drop road tax discs for a system that charges by the mile according to how congested a road is.

Drivers at peak times will be charged up to £1.34 a mile to persuade them to switch to cheaper ‘off-peak' times when the tariff will be just a few pence.