MParking: A space could cost you dearly

Cases of motorists charged more have come to light as system deducts highest fee if SMS sent is incorrect

Many motorists in Dubai have found out the hard way that sending an mParking SMS in the wrong format could burn a hole in their pockets.

Motorists who don’t use the Roads and Transport Authority’s (RTA) mobile parking payment system correctly could end up paying a higher fee than a particular zone warrants, or may even incur a fine.

Several cases have come to light of motorists making payments in zones C and D, where the fee for the first hour is Dh2, being charged Dh4, which is the first hour fee in zones A and B.

Though the mParking system has been operational for more than a decade, many motorists continue to make mistakes when using it.

“I park my car in zones C or D in Karama and have been using mParking for a long time. I was always charged Dh4, which is the fee in zones A or B. Initially, I thought there was a glitch in the system, but when I inquired I found out that I was sending the message with a space between zone number and code,” said Ajay John, who paid extra for months.

According to the RTA, while typing in an area code in a mParking SMS, there should not be a space between the zone number and code.

“If you leave a space between the zone number and code, the system automatically deducts the highest chargeable fee for the hour, which is Dh4,” an RTA official said.

However, some motorists believe this is unfair.

“If there is a mistake in the SMS format, they can send a message back saying the format is wrong. They shouldn’t straight away deduct the highest amount,” said Naveen Kumar, a resident of Satwa.

However, there are worse scenarios than just being charged a higher fee.

“If you are parking in zone A and have sent an SMS for zone C, the parking inspector could fine you even though you have paid and mistakenly sent an SMS with the wrong code,” said Mohammad Zaman, who was fined.

Dubai has four paid parking zones — A, B, C and D — with zones A and B comprising parking spaces on the roadside and in commercial areas where the fee is Dh4 for the first hour. Zones C and D comprise large parking lots and non-commercial areas and cost Dh2 for the first hour.

Many new areas in Dubai have been brought under the purview of paid parking zones with special zone codes such as G for Downtown dubai, T for Tecom areas and I, J and K for Jumeirah Lakes Towers.

Fees range from Dh4 to Dh10 for the first hour.