Unpaid bills: Indian embassy in UK set the trend

Indians are known followers of American trends — from Afghanistan to China and beyond, Indians and Americans have been singing from the same hymn sheet with increasingly sweet harmony.

Indians are known followers of American trends — from Afghanistan to China and beyond, Indians and Americans have been singing from the same hymn sheet with increasingly sweet harmony.

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Now, Indian diplomats in London have set a trend the Americans are following with much enthusiasm: in the somewhat dubious area of unpaid public bills. We, it seems, are the bad boys of London.

On Monday, the Indian high commission was named and shamed as owing a massive £1.2 million (Rs 8.4 crore) to the city of London in unpaid congestion charges.

The Americans, as expected, topped the list with unpaid fines of £3.8 million. Under congestion charges, introduced in 2003, drivers have to pay a charge of eight pounds a day if moving about in the busiest parts of London in peak hours.

Indian diplomats, a British government source told HT, have never paid the charge, although they owe not a penny in parking fines and utility bills. The Americans, however, paid the congestion charge for two years.