Victor Dominello’s government parking app has been delayed by cabinet

An uneasiness with having the state government involved in the private parking market has led cabinet to reject an app championed by Customer Services Minister Victor Dominello.

Legislation requiring local governments to adopt a government app designed to make parking cheaper and easier has been delayed, after cabinet ministers raised concerns about forcing regional councils to adopt the scheme.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello was preparing to introduce legislation mandating councils sign onto the Park’nPay platform as early as last week.

The Park’nPay app, champ­ioned by Mr Dominello, allows drivers to find and pay for parking spaces on mobile phones.

A number of councils have voluntarily signed on to use the app, and it has recently been integrated with a service allowing people to rent out private parking spots that they don’t use.

Park'nPay user Andy Lee used the NSW Government app to pay for parking while his wife was giving birth in Liverpool hospital. Picture: Toby Zerna

It has also been expanded to include state government commuter carparks.

Mr Dominello brought a bid to mandate councils’ participation in the platform to a Nov­ember 1 cabinet meeting, with a view to introducing legislation as early as last week.

However, it can be revealed that Ministers delayed the legislation, questioning why reg­ional councils should be forced to adopt the platform.

Some Ministers were also uncomfortable with the state government intervening in the parking market.

Mr Dominello’s legislation would be similar to reforms forcing petrol companies to share data on the NSW FuelCheck app.

Forcing councils to adopt the app would streamline parking across Sydney and even the state, replacing the need to use multiple platforms from different private operators.

It’s hoped it would also drive down the cost of parking ­because customers would be able to easily find the cheapest spots available.

Mr Dominello did not deny wanting to mandate the platform: “I will always pursue public interest over vested interest.”

NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury backed Mr Dominello putting the Park’nPay platform into law.

“There is untapped potential to reform parking to make it cheaper and easier,” he said.

“But as we have seen time and time again, relying on crowd sourcing or a piecemeal approach is not best practice.”