News / UK mulls mandatory e-commerce delivery charge as road congestion increases

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The UK government is considering a tax on last-mile consumer deliveries as it seeks to tackle the rising traffic congestion caused by the e-commerce retail boom.

A position paper by the Department for Transport’s scientific advisory committee (SAC) this month considers a range of methods and technologies that could improve the efficacy of last-mile deliveries, and a mandatory delivery charge is an option.

“A mandatory charge, similar to that implemented to discourage plastic carrier bag use, could be applied to all consumer ...