National Highways has announces changes to the payment system for journeys across the Dartford Crossing over the River Thames.
The new Dart Charge Service Provider, Conduent, will become responsible for vehicle identification, payment processing and account management. Previous supplier Emovis will continue to issue and handle enquiries for Penalty Charge Notices.
National Highways says it haas undertaken customer research to ensure customer needs have been incorporated into the new design. Dart Charge customers will see improvements on the website, making it an easier and more accessible service.
These changes, along with new banking requirements, mean that account holders will need to re-validate their payment cards from 28 July 2023. This includes Pay as You Go customers.
National Highways says it has written directly to affected customers and there will be easy to follow instructions when customers log into their account. If no action is taken crossings will not be automatically paid due to invalid card payment details, which may result in a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) being issued.
National Highways will be issuing further reminders in due course, together with messages on social media to highlight the need for customers to take action on their accounts. Whilst they recognise that this may be an inconvenience to existing customers, their communication campaigns and easy to follow online instructions aim to reduce the impact.
Helen Watkinson, Head of Road User Charging, Dart Charge, said: “We are really excited about the changes to Dart Charge. We have worked hard to design a customer centric service with the new suppliers, really putting the customer at the heart of our design. Whilst there are improvements from day one, we have further exciting improvements in the pipeline to further enhance the service offer and offer customers more flexibility.
“We will announce further changes as they come online. We thank our customers for their feedback which has helped to design the new service and look forward to continuing that customer relationship to further improve the service.”
(Picture – National Highways)
