A petrolhead who sold his car because he thought it wasn’t ULEZ compliant was shocked when TfL told him it was.

Ajay Purbhoosing, 43, was initially told his 2005 Subaru Legacy GT Spec B wasn’t compliant with the new rules. However, it was only after he had been paid £6,000 to let it go that he found out it was compliant.

Ajay told MyLondon that he exchanged emails with TfL over nine months trying to work out if he would have to pay the daily £12.50 charge to drive his Subaru.

The senior account manager said he first presented paperwork which he says proved his car was ULEZ compliant and met TfL’s emission standards. Among these documents were a V5C and a Certificate of Conformity from Japan.

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In one email to TfL, Ajay claims to have said: “My vehicle meets the petrol EURO 4 status and the emissions threshold for the ULEZ compliance.” He said he attached data which showed his car’s EURO status was 4 and that NOx emissions were “below 0.08 grams”.

Ajay was later told by TfL that they didn’t accept the documents. They wrote: “Please be advised we are unable to accept the document provided. We have checked our records and based on the information that you have provided your vehicle […] is subject to the ULEZ and does not meet the emission standards.”

This was reportedly followed up by another letter on January 25, 2023, which said Ajay’s evidence was “not sufficient to confirm ULEZ Compliance at this stage”.

However, just six months later, Ajay received another letter which said: “We can confirm that this vehicle meets the required standards, is exempt from the scheme or is subject to a 100% discount. This means you will not need to pay a ULEZ charge.”

Despite this apparent confirmation, Ajay was shocked to receive another email from TfL. They said: “We are not satisfied that your vehicle is ULEZ compliant and meets the specific standards required. We do seek to process these as soon as possible but can process these based on the evidence available to us.”

Confused, Ajay emailed asking for clarification. In their latest communication, on August 31, Ajay said his car was found to be LEZ and ULEZ compliant.

While this was positive news, it was too late for Ajay who by this point had sold his car to its new owner.

Following the debacle, Ajay is infuriated by the confusion and mixed messages which caused him to unnecessarily sell his car.

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Speaking to MyLondon he said: “When I responded [to TfL] to explain that they put me under duress in selling my car, they then responded with an email to say my car was not compliant! I challenged them again and it was made compliant again.

“I don’t understand who makes these decisions or how they come to a conclusion about what is compliant or not! I’m at a financial loss and have raised a complaint but the process is unnecessarily complicated and long.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for TfL said: “We apologise that our handling Mr Purbhoosing’s case fell well short of our usual standards. We were still considering Mr Purbhoosing’s documentation when he sold his vehicle.

“Following a review, his vehicle was marked as compliant in June 2023 and we contacted him at that time to notify him of this. We will be providing a full detailed response to his complaint.”

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