Bus lane penalty charges and the Enforcement Notice

Checked 22 July 2026 · How we check our figures

Jump to: The decision · What next · Numbers · Deadlines · Mistakes

What it is

A bus lane penalty arrives by post with a camera still, addressed to the person the authority takes to be the owner, in practice the registered keeper: in London under the London Local Authorities Act 1996, outside it under the Bus Lane Contraventions (England) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/2757) or the newer Traffic Management Act 2004 powers. Most people file the envelope as a bus lane ticket. What it does not explain is that this world has its own second letter: where the parking world sends a Notice to Owner, the bus lane world sends an Enforcement Notice, and the discount is usually gone by the time it arrives (London Tribunals, checked 2026-07-22).

Reading the notice

The discount line is the one to read twice: 50 per cent off runs for 14 days from service under the 2005 Regulations, while notices under the newer regime commonly give 21 days from issue; the dates printed on your notice are the ones that govern (reg 8, SI 2005/2757; Traffic Penalty Tribunal guidance).

Outside London the notice itself has a clock: it must normally be served within 28 days of the contravention, extendable where the keeper could not be identified in time (reg 8, SI 2005/2757).

The evidence is the camera record, and the authority relies on an approved device; the still or footage reference on the notice is what any challenge will be argued against (SI 2005/2757).

The decision in front of you

Pay inside the discount window and the matter closes at half the charge; the current levels by area live dated in the ladder calculator at /fines/pcn-escalation.

Challenge early and ask about the discount: some authorities hold the reduced rate open while they consider a letter sent within the 14 days, but not all do, and the practice is theirs to offer (London Tribunals, checked 2026-07-22).

Make formal representations once an Enforcement Notice arrives: 28 days from its service, on the statutory grounds, which include that the recipient never was or had ceased to be the owner; a rejection then opens 28 days to the adjudicator (regs 9 and 14, SI 2005/2757; the London regime runs to the same clocks, London Tribunals).

Do nothing and the ladder runs: after the representation window a charge certificate can add 50 per cent, and 14 days later the debt can be registered at the Traffic Enforcement Centre, the charge certificate guide's territory (London Tribunals).

What happens next

Unpaid after 28 days, the Enforcement Notice goes to the person appearing to be the owner, and the 28 day representations clock starts on its service, not on the original notice (London Tribunals, checked 2026-07-22).

A rejection notice starts the appeal clock: 28 days to the adjudicator, London Tribunals for London, the Traffic Penalty Tribunal elsewhere, with an extension in the adjudicator's gift (reg 14, SI 2005/2757).

From the charge certificate onwards the road is the common one for all penalty charges, county court registration included, covered in the charge certificate guide.

The numbers

The discount and the uplift are halves both ways: 50 per cent off in the discount window, and up to 50 per cent on top once a charge certificate is served (SI 2005/2757; London Tribunals).

The charge levels differ by area and have moved in recent years: see the ladder calculator at /fines/pcn-escalation, figures dated there.

The clocks in sequence run 14 or 21, then 28, 28 and 28: discount, Enforcement Notice, representations, appeal (SI 2005/2757; the timeline runs in the checker at /fines/pcn-deadline-checker).

The deadlines

The discount window is 14 days from service under the 2005 Regulations, commonly 21 days from issue under the newer regime; the notice states its own dates, and those govern (reg 8, SI 2005/2757).

Representations run 28 days from service of the Enforcement Notice, and late ones may lawfully be disregarded (reg 9, SI 2005/2757).

The appeal to the adjudicator runs 28 days from the notice of rejection, extendable by the adjudicator (reg 14, SI 2005/2757).

What people get wrong

Waiting out the discount while a challenge is considered: only some authorities hold the reduced rate open, and silence from them is not an extension (London Tribunals).

Expecting the parking world's paperwork: the second letter here is the Enforcement Notice, and drivers who wait for a Notice to Owner meet it with the discount already gone.

Paying and then trying to argue: payment closes the case, and the representations and appeal doors close with it.

Authority

London Local Authorities Act 1996; Bus Lane Contraventions (Penalty Charges, Adjudication and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/2757), regs 8, 9 and 14; Traffic Management Act 2004, Part 6; London Tribunals and Traffic Penalty Tribunal guidance