Crackdown on parking pirates ‘to impose £60 cap on charges’
PRIVATE parking firms which charge motorists eye-watering fees are to face a legal crackdown.
Tory MSP Murdo Fraser will tomorrow publish plans for legislation to curb the companies’ ability to rip off drivers.
His proposals include a cap on the fees that can be slapped on motorists, likely to be set at £60, and an independent body to adjudicate on appeals.
The legislation, which will go to public consultation before being introduced at Holyrood, also proposes new rules on signage in car parks and the removal of ‘misleading’ terms on fines.
It comes after a Scottish Daily Mail campaign calling for a code of practice for private parking firms. Mr Fraser said: ‘I started this campaign three years ago after receiving hundreds of emails, letters and phone calls from drivers who had been incorrectly fined at one particular private car park in Perth.
‘After subsequent research and analysis, it became clear that this is not an issue specific to Perth but one that affects the whole of Scotland.
‘Motorists up and down the country are being taken advantage of and pressured into paying parking charges without adequate access to a fully independent appeals process.
‘Fines are too high and the tactics used to elicit payment verge on the immoral.
‘Tackling cowboy parking com- panies will require the input of not just drivers but the industry itself, and I am now calling on interested parties to give their feedback on my proposals.’
Private parking firms – often using Big Brother-style numberplate recognition systems – have multiplied in the UK over the past decade. They have taken over many traditional car parks, such as Kinnoull Street multistorey in Perth, which is run by Smart Parking.
Earlier this year, the Mail revealed Smart Parking’s business model relies on clobbering those who fail to adhere to complex and inflexible operating procedures in its car parks. Incredibly, 75 per cent of its revenue comes from issuing punitive fines to motorists who have often made honest mistakes.
The only recourse most customers have when they are hit with a fine is to appeal to the company itself.
But Mr Fraser’s Holyrood member’s Bill would propose a fully independent appeals system accessible to any motorist in dispute with a privately operated car park in Scotland.
It will also set a maximum sum for fines, likely to be in line with council on-street parking, where fines cost £60, reduced to £30 if paid quickly.
Firms would also be forced to introduce improved signage, with a uniform system informing motorists when they enter a private car park of the contract they are about to agree to.
It would clearly outline the terms and conditions, the charges payable and the penalties for any breach. There would also be rules about the appearance and size of signs.
The Bill would also set standards for clear, consistent and distinct invoices to differentiate them from a legally enforceable penalty charge notice.
Some private car park operators distribute invoices with titles and appearances that closely resemble penalties issued by the police or local authorities.
The Bill would also bring Scotland into line with the rest of the UK by introducing ‘keeper liability’ – meaning motorists are responsible for the vehicles if they own them. This measure will be strongly supported by the parking industry, as it will make it easier for them to make motorists pay fines.
Smart Parking has said it would support any Bill to achieve a ‘fair, considered, audited appeals process for Scotland’.
‘This affects the whole of Scotland’