Ticketed off: 125 Napier commuters caught out by parking payment glitch

Napier man Howard Bott said his wife returned to her car after paying for parking in the city and was greeted with a $40 fine. Photo / Mitchell Hageman

One hundred and twenty five commuters in Napier have been hit with an unwelcome surprise after paying for their parking and still being slapped with a fine.

Hawke’s Bay man Howard Bott said his wife used the ParkMate app on June 19 to pay for parking at a Napier City Council (NCC) paid parking space near Pak’nSave on Munroe St.

After paying the correct sum for the time, she returned to her vehicle to find she had been fined.

A chance encounter with a parking warden led Bott to believe this situation had happened on a wider scale.

“I spoke to one of the meter attendants on Tuesday this week and asked him about it. He said, ‘We know about that, there’s quite a lot of people that have got that and it [is] a problem on our end.’

“It occurred to me, ‘Why has the council not let anybody know about this?’”

He said he thought there were probably “quite a few” people that had received the tickets despite paying for their parking.

Howard Bott stands at the place where he talked to a parking warden who told him there was an error. Photo / Mitchell Hageman

A post on social media revealed that Bott’s wife wasn’t alone.

Others revealed they had been told the same story by wardens regarding what had happened.

An NCC spokeswoman confirmed to Hawke’s Bay Today a software error with parking space pay-by-plate meters in Napier on June 19 led to 125 vehicles being ticketed in error.

The issue resulted in the meters appearing to behave normally, but transaction data was not being relayed to parking officers’ handheld devices.

“Our software provider has implemented fixes to ensure this does not reoccur,” the spokeswoman said.

“We apologise for the error. We are prioritising making contact with those who have paid the invalid infringement to process a full refund. If you have not heard from the council and believe you were issued an infringement in error on June 19, please do not hesitate to contact our customer service team to submit a service request.”

The spokeswoman said any details around having parking infringements reviewed could be found on the council’s website.

“In this instance, the error was quickly identified, the respective parking infringements cancelled and confirmation letters issued to those affected.”

The Napier City Council’s website states that parking fees in high-demand areas of Napier were set at a rate to encourage fast turnaround of on-street car parks.

If people fail to pay for parking under normal circumstances, a $40 fine was set by legislation.

Excess time limit fines start from $12 and increase incrementally depending on the time spent over the limit.

It isn’t the first parking ticket-related issue to arise in Napier in recent times.

A Napier man who parked his car in his normal spot on the road in front of his Bluff Hill garage in darkness was stunned to find yellow lines on the road - and a $60 ticket on his windscreen - when he woke up.

The council says the ticket was justified because regulations state that no one is allowed to park in front of a driveway, not even the owner of the property.

Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in late January. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community.