The 99% rule: what the Public Charge Point Regulations mean for operators in 2026

The days of a rapid charger being ‘usually fine’ are over. Under the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023, reliability is now a legal requirement, and 2026 is the year the first numbers get reported.

What the regulations actually require

Operators must ensure their rapid public charge points are available 99% of the time. That figure is measured as an average across a charge point operator’s rapid network of public chargers of 50kW and above, over the calendar year. A single bad month will not sink you on its own, as long as reliability is made up over the rest of the 12 months so the annual average stays at or above 99%.

The reporting is just as concrete. A charge point operator must submit a report to the Secretary of State for its rapid network for each calendar year, and the first report, covering 2025, had to be submitted by 14 January 2026. (Source: GOV.UK guidance on the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023.)

The uncomfortable early picture

Here is where it gets real. A 2025 Monta survey of more than 200 UK charge point operator decision-makers found that only 3.9% currently meet the 99% threshold. In other words, on early figures the overwhelming majority of operators are not yet where the regulation expects them to be.

The distance between a 99% rule and a 3.9% reality is not a paperwork problem. It is a maintenance problem.

Why uptime is a maintenance question

You cannot report your way to 99%. Reliability at that level comes from the unglamorous work: knowing the true condition of the estate, catching faults before they become outages, and turning round the ones that do happen quickly. Reactive-only cover, waiting for a charger to fail and then queuing for a fix, is exactly the model that produces the numbers operators are now worried about.

This is the whole reason Safer Charging exists. We are manufacturer agnostic, we give estates proper time rather than a visit squeezed in at the end of an installer’s day, and we back service levels only where we have the local resource to deliver them. For an operator staring at a reporting deadline, that is the difference between a number you can stand behind and one you have to explain.

What to do before the next reporting cycle

The 2025 report is filed. The 2026 one is already being earned, charger by charger, every day of this year. The sensible move is to know where you stand now: a non-invasive Charge Point Audit maps the estate and gives you an honest baseline, and a clear maintenance plan protects the uptime the number depends on.

Ninety-nine percent is not a stretch goal any more. It is the floor, and the operators who treat maintenance as the whole job, not a sideline, are the ones who will clear it.

Sources: GOV.UK, Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 guidance; legislation.gov.uk; 2025 Monta survey of UK charge point operators, as reported by Zest.

Frequently asked

What is the 99% reliability rule for EV chargers?

Under the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023, operators must keep their rapid public charge points (50kW and above) available 99% of the time, measured as an annual average across the rapid network.

When is the first charge point reliability report due?

The first report, covering the 2025 calendar year, had to be submitted to the Secretary of State by 14 January 2026, with subsequent reports due by 14 January each following year.

How many operators currently meet the 99% target?

A 2025 Monta survey of more than 200 UK charge point operator decision-makers found only 3.9% currently meet the 99% threshold.

How does maintenance help meet the 99% requirement?

Reliability at 99% comes from knowing the estate's true condition, preventing faults before they cause outages, and turning round failures quickly, audit-led, preventative and responsive maintenance rather than reactive-only cover.