Sourced fact
The duty applies to paid public chargepoints operated by a business that is not a micro business.
Regulation · UK
Public charging payment roaming has a limited boundary
By 24 November 2025, an operator that is not a micro business must connect its paid public chargepoints to at least one third-party roaming provider. That external provider must enable payment by an app or RFID card across different operators' networks, while free-to-use points are outside this payment duty. The rule does not require every roaming app or card to work and does not replace the separate contactless bank-card duty.
Reviewed
Key facts and evidence
Across the UK, as checked on 12 August 2026, paid public chargepoints run by operators that are not micro businesses must have connected to at least one external roaming provider by 24 November 2025. The provider enables app or RFID payment across different operators. Free points are excluded, and neither universal roaming acceptance nor contactless equivalence follows.
Sourced fact
The operator had to connect covered points to a qualifying roaming provider by 24 November 2025.
Sourced fact
At least one provider must be external to the operator and support app or RFID payment across different operators' networks.
Sourced fact
Free-to-use public chargepoints are outside this payment roaming duty.
Sourced fact
The duty does not require every roaming app or RFID card to work and is distinct from contactless payment.
Check when a non-micro operator must support at least one external roaming provider, and what that duty does not promise.
The minimum is one provider
By 24 November 2025, each covered non-micro operator had to connect its paid public chargepoints to at least one provider external to that operator, supporting app or RFID payment across different operators' networks.
What roaming does not mean
Free-to-use points are outside this payment duty. A covered operator need not accept every roaming app or RFID card, and support for roaming does not satisfy or displace the separate contactless bank-card requirement.
What to do next
Check the operator's site information, website or app for at least one named third-party roaming provider before relying on a particular app or RFID card.
Immediate action: Ask the operator which external roaming service is supported at the paid public chargepoint.
- Do not infer that an unlisted roaming app or RFID card must be accepted.
- Do not apply the duty to a free point or an operator confirmed to be a micro business.
Checks that stay with this vehicle
Check the operator's published information for at least one supported external roaming provider.
You identify the specific app or RFID service the operator says it supports.
Stop the compliance conclusion if paid status, public status or operator-size scope is uncertain.
Do not infer from missing evidence
- Do not treat roaming as universal app acceptance or as a substitute for the separate contactless requirement.
Professional hand-off
- Ask the operator to identify its supported third-party service, then report an apparently covered network offering none to OPSS.
Questions this record can answer
What does the sourced evidence say about the minimum is one provider?
By 24 November 2025, each covered non-micro operator had to connect its paid public chargepoints to at least one provider external to that operator, supporting app or RFID payment across different operators' networks.
What does the sourced evidence say about what roaming does not mean?
Free-to-use points are outside this payment duty. A covered operator need not accept every roaming app or RFID card, and support for roaming does not satisfy or displace the separate contactless bank-card requirement.