Changes to the payment system for journeys across the Dartford Crossing will come into force next week – and drivers will need to take action on their account or risk being issued with PCNs.

A new service provider named Conduent has been appointed for the responsibility of vehicle identification, payment processing and account management.

These changes and new banking requirements mean that Dart Charge account holders will need to re-validate their payment cards from July 28, 2023, including Pay as You Go customers.

National Highways says that it has contacted customers that will be affected and that there will be “easy to follow instructions” when customers log into their accounts.

If no action is taken and the account is not revalidated, 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 said that “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”.

National Highways says it has “undertaken customer research to ensure customer needs have been incorporated into the new design” and that these changes hope to make it a more accessible service.

Emovis will continue to issue and handle enquiries for Penalty Charge Notices.

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.

“Customers can leave feedback and comments on the website: https://pay-dartford-crossing-charge.service.gov.uk/Home”

The Dartford Crossing, a bridge built at a cost of £120m, was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in October 1991.

It marked the first bridge to be constructed at a new location along the River Thames in over 50 years.

As the longest single span bridge in Europe at the time, it measured a remarkable length of over 2,872 meters.

With the completion of the M25 motorway in 1986, the Dartford tunnels played a crucial role as a link in the national road network.

However, the volume of traffic rapidly surpassed the designed capacity of 65,000 vehicles per day.

Forecasts projected an annual count of more than 40 million vehicles.

Due to the Dartford Tunnel's operations being regulated by an Act of Parliament, new legislation was necessary for the transfer of the crossing from Kent and Essex County Councils to Dartford River Crossing Limited.

This process was successfully completed on July 31st, 1988, and construction of the bridge commenced just a few days later.