1200 parking fines waived after City of Melbourne blunder
Thousands of motorists are set have their parking fines waived after an investigation by the Victorian Ombudsman found they had been unfairly charged because of this mistake.
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More than 1200 motorists could have their parking fines waived after an investigation by the Victorian Ombudsman found they had been unfairly charged for mixing up the number 0 with the letter O.
A report by Ombudsman Deborah Glass found there was an “over zealous” approach among senior managers in the parking sector at the City of Melbourne which may have led to nearly $100,000 in fines.
The probe was launched amid accusations the council was unfairly charging people build revenue.
This included a large amount of cases where motorists in the City of Melbourne had confused the number 0 with the letter O when putting in their registration details while parking.
“We estimate over 1,200 motorists were affected by a PayStay mistake, which the council could easily have checked when the driver requested a review,” Ms Glass said.
“The Council knew the number 0 and letter O were virtually indistinguishable on registration plates, and drivers would not be aware they had made an error.”
The council altered its policy in October 2019, and Victorians impacted by the issue should be able to have their $83 fine withdrawn when they appeal.
They have also agreed to review all similar fines dating back to July 2017.
Ms Glass said other issues discovered including the rewording reminder letters to encourage payment, despite lawyers working for the council warning the letter could be misleading.
“The allegation that the Council was improperly raising revenue was not substantiated,” she said.
“The council was losing money taking these matters to court, although the practical outcome of inflexible decision making undoubtedly contributed to the Council’s bottom line.”
“These actions were apparently driven by an entrenched, overzealous attitude of some in senior management in the parking branch, a mindset that the customer is usually wrong and drivers must be punished for their infractions, no matter how small or how great the mitigation.
“This attitude continued for years, despite some council officers expressing concerns about it to management.”
The City of Melbourne has accepted all of the Ombudsman’s recommendations.
But chief executive Justin Hanney said the council had so far identified only 450 drivers that it believes should not have been fined since 2017, below the watchdog’s estimation of 1200.
These will be immediately reimbursed and will also receive a written apology.
“Our infringement review process during those two periods did not allow for discretion to be applied where these honest mistakes were made,” he said.
“Parking infringement processes need to be fair and reasonable, and in this instance, they were not.
“As CEO, I welcome the Ombudsman acknowledging that revenue-raising was not a motivating factor for any of our infringement review decisions.”
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