Yesterday 27 December 2016 parking charges were payable after a couple of festive days when parking in the city was free. Except that, according to RingGo the company which runs the city’s cashless parking system, parking charges did not have to be paid.

If you went to a ticket machine we understand that it was possible to pay for parking. The council has a parking enforcement contract with NSL who have run this for ten years now.

NSL said this: “NSL has confirmed that parking restrictions and charges in the city of Edinburgh do apply on Tuesday 27 December and Monday 2nd January as stated on all Pay and Display machines and on the City of Edinburgh Council’s website.

“Full enforcement procedures apply on both dates in order to maintain safe and fair access for anyone visiting the shops and facilities in and around the city centre. The company has confirmed that it has been made aware of an incorrect instruction on the RingGo app and RingGo website and has asked for the instructions to be amended as a matter of urgency. It has advised anyone who has received an incorrect Penalty Charge Notice on 27th December as a result of the error, to appeal to have their ticket cancelled.”

The matter even caught the attention of one Grant Shapps, Conservative MP for Welwyn Hatfield, who was visiting the city and decided to play the part of roving reporter. The former Minister for International Development took it upon himself to tell us of the plight of some tourists who had been given a parking ticket.

Actually I think that the parking attendant has to be praised in this case, firstly for agreeing to be filmed and secondly for keeping his cool!

We have enjoyed the benefits of the RingGo parking app in Edinburgh since 2010. Of course it is not always without its problems. Sometimes the app fails to recognise where you are, but there is no doubt that it is much more convenient than carrying small change in your car and probably makes life cheaper.

But it does seem that many were caught out yesterday by the app which told them it was free although it was not a free parking day.

So if you were caught out then the advice seems to be to appeal the ticket! A Council spokesperson, said: “Christmas parking was advertised very clearly through our website and social media and is also marked on parking meters throughout the city.

“We are aware, however, that there was an error for a time with the RingGo parking payment service managed by our contracted partner NSL. We will liaise with NSL with a view to looking favourably on any appeals for tickets issued as a result of this.”

The next free parking day apart from Saturdays in some locations and Sundays citywide is 1 January 2017.

All details of car parking holidays are here on the council website.

In the last financial year the City of Edinburgh Council imposed 184,964 parking tickets earning them over £5.3 million.

 

 

Phyllis Stephen
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.

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