City of Melbourne issues parking fine two minutes before ticket expires

A driver who paid for a two-hour parking ticket but was stung by inspectors two minutes before his ticket expired, says he can’t understand why he was fined.

The parking ticket issued before paid parking expired.

A motorist who had paid for a two-hour parking ticket was stunned to receive a fine issued two minutes before his ticket expired.

But the City of Melbourne says the ticket is “not related to the infringement” because their in-ground sensors showed the car had overstayed the limit.

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Damien Ratcliffe paid $8 for two hours of parking on Wells St, Southbank, but returned in time to find an $81 infringement already slotted under the windscreen wiper.

The City of Melbourne parking fine stated the time of the offence as 11.01am and time of issue as 11.07am, despite his ticket — valid until 11.09am — being displayed on the dashboard.

The parking ticket issued before paid parking expired.

The offence listed was “parked for a period longer than indicated”.

“I had glanced at the sign when I parked and was pretty confident it was two hours,” Mr Ratcliffe told Leader Community News.

“When I got to the ticket machine I hit the maximum time, which was 11.09, so I had a fair idea of when to get back.”

A City of Melbourne spokesperson said the ticket or the payment for the time were not related to the infringement.

“In-ground sensors record when a vehicle arrives in a parking bay; once a vehicle has overstayed the maximum time permitted in a bay, plus a grace period of five minutes, a parking officer in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle will receive a notification from the sensor,” the spokesperson said.

“The officer will then check to see if a parking offence has occurred before issuing a fine.”

The City of Melbourne issued 341,200 parking fines during the 2017-18 financial year.

Mr Ratcliffe said he would be appealing the fine.

If drivers believe an infringement for overstaying the time period on a sign is not correct, or they wish to provide further information, they can request a review through the City of Melbourne website.

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