Merri-bek City Council in Melbourne overcharge $12m in parking fines

A council in a major city has overcharged drivers a whopping $12m in parking fines, spanning more than a decade.

A Melbourne council has overcharged drivers up to $12m in parking fines due to an administrative error, spanning back more than a decade.

The Merri-bek City Council, formerly Moreland, will launch a refund scheme for 11 different types of parking fines in mostly “green sign zones” issued between July 1, 2013 and June 11, 2025.

For the past 12 years, the council had been charging 0.5 penalty units for the infringements, but recently discovered they did not have the proper resolution to do so.

Merri-Bek City Council has overcharged drivers up to $12m in parking fines. Picture: supplied: Facebook

Without council resolution, they are only permitted to charge 0.2 penalty units.

“Unfortunately, it has recently been discovered that there was no resolution in place setting this value,” a council statement read.

“This was due to an administrative error in 2013, which has not been identified until recently.”

It has been reported about 248,000 fines have been affected by the error, and those who received the infringements can expect a refund of between $43 and $59, depending on the year the fine was issued.

The council blamed the overcharging on an administrative error. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

The most common fine was issued for overstaying a parking time limit.

“Many other types of parking infringements are unaffected and were charged the correct amount, including for parking in a clearway, in a loading zone, and in a no-stopping zone.”

The council has introduced the Parking Fines Refund Scheme, which will go live from July and will be eligible for 12 months.

The 11 fines affected include:

– Parked for period longer than indicated

– Parked fail to pay obey instructions on sign

– Stopped contrary to a No Parking sign

– Stopped on a bicycle parking area

– Stopped on a motorbike parking area

– Parked contrary to requirement of parking area

– Parked not at an angle of 45 degrees

– Parked not at an angle of 90 degrees

– Parked not completely within a parking bay

– Parked long vehicle exceed minimum number of bays

– Parked wide vehicle exceed minimum number of bays

The council are expecting to refund up to $12m in overcharged fines. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Council chief executive officer Cathy Henderson apologised for the error.

“Today’s announcement reflects Merri-Bek City Council’s commitment to integrity,

transparency and fairness. Now that we have found the mistake, we are fixing it,” she said.

“This is a regrettable historical administrative error, and we apologise for the impact of the

overcharge.

“Parking is a limited resource and to ensure fair access for everyone, parking restrictions and

controls are necessary.

“All revenue raised from parking fines is reinvested back into our community to provide services and facilities to the Merri-Bek community,” she said.

Fines Victoria said in an online statement they would work alongside the council to resolve the issue.

“Fines Victoria has placed all impacted outstanding fines registered with us on hold. While the fines are on hold, no further enforcement action will be taken, and no additional fees will be added,” a statement read.

“We will continue to work with Merri-Bek City Council as they take action to resolve this matter.”

People can find out more about the refund scheme on the Merri-Bek City Council website.

Originally published as Merri-bek City Council in Melbourne overcharge $12m in parking fines