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EV Evidence

Regulation · UK

Your pre-start public charging price right

A public chargepoint operator must show the maximum charging price in pence or pounds per kWh before the session starts. That charging price cannot rise above the displayed pre-start maximum during the session, although a dynamic price may be lower. Record the display and time because this page does not supply a current operator tariff.

Office for Zero Emission Vehicles and Department for Transport: Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 guidance

Reviewed

Key facts and evidence

Across the UK, as at 12 August 2026, regulation 11 requires the maximum public-charging price to be visible per kWh before a consumer starts, without needing a pre-existing contract. The session charging price cannot exceed that maximum, but dynamic pricing is not prohibited and separately imposed third-party parking charges sit outside this specific charging-price claim.

Office for Zero Emission Vehicles and Department for Transport: Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 guidance

Understand the UK right to see a maximum public-charging price per kWh before starting and how to preserve that evidence.

The 2023 pricing boundary

Regulation 11 applied from 24 November 2023 across the UK and applies to all public chargepoint operators, including micro businesses. Confirm that the point falls within the statutory public-chargepoint scope before asserting the right.

Maximum does not mean fixed

A dynamic charging price may move below the pre-start maximum, but the charging price for the session must not exceed that recorded maximum. This rule does not provide an operator rate for a future session.

Keep session evidence

Keep the displayed maximum, observation time, chargepoint identifier, payment channel and final receipt together. Those records allow a factual comparison without relying on an undated screenshot or an EV Evidence operator-price default.

What to do next

A pricing right does not establish that the vehicle, connector or chargepoint is suitable for use.

Immediate action: Record the maximum p/kWh and its timestamp before authorising payment.

  • Do not start a price comparison when the maximum p/kWh is absent or unreadable.
  • Stop relying on this page if the legal source has passed its review date.

Checks that stay with this vehicle

  1. Record the displayed maximum p/kWh, chargepoint identifier and time before starting.

    You retain contemporaneous evidence of the maximum shown for that session.

    The display is unclear, changes before authorisation or cannot be tied to the selected point.

Professional hand-off

  • Raise an absent, unclear or increased charging price with the operator and use OPSS for suspected non-compliance.

Questions this record can answer

What does the sourced evidence say about the 2023 pricing boundary?

Regulation 11 applied from 24 November 2023 across the UK and applies to all public chargepoint operators, including micro businesses. Confirm that the point falls within the statutory public-chargepoint scope before asserting the right.

What does the sourced evidence say about maximum does not mean fixed?

A dynamic charging price may move below the pre-start maximum, but the charging price for the session must not exceed that recorded maximum. This rule does not provide an operator rate for a future session.

What does the sourced evidence say about keep session evidence?

Keep the displayed maximum, observation time, chargepoint identifier, payment channel and final receipt together. Those records allow a factual comparison without relying on an undated screenshot or an EV Evidence operator-price default.

Sources