New Delhi:
A UK woman has been fined over Rs 2 lakh after taking longer than five minutes to pay for parking. Rosey Hudson, a resident of Derby, claimed poor mobile phone signal prevented her from making a timely payment while at the car park.
Despite paying the full tariff every time she parked, Excel Parking Ltd issued her 10 Parking Charge Notices (PCNs), leading to a significant fine.
Ms Hudson had been using the Copeland Street car park since February 2023 while working nearby. She said the parking machine was out of order, forcing her to pay through an app, reported The BBC. But she struggled with signal issues, needing to walk to another area to get connected. Ms Hudson paid the full £3.30 (Rs 355) daily rate each time, until she received the first PCN, demanding £100 (Rs 10,769), later reduced to £60 (Rs 6,461) if paid within 14 days.
“I rang the company and explained the situation, and they basically said ‘you have to pay it’,’” Ms Hudson said. “So to keep them off my back I did pay the initial parking fine.”
Despite this, Hudson continued to receive nine more PCNs, escalating the total fine to £1,905.76 (Rs 2,05,257).
Excel Parking defended its actions, saying the car park clearly displayed signage that stipulated a five-minute window to pay. “It is the driver’s responsibility to read and understand the terms,” a spokesperson said, adding that Ms Hudson was “the author of her own misfortune”.
The company further claimed Ms Hudson took between 14 and 190 minutes to pay, which Hudson refuted, calling the assertion “absolutely ludicrous” as the app did not process payments immediately. They also suggested she could have paid in cash at the machine, but Ms Hudson insisted it was out of order.
In a response to BBC’s inquiry, Excel explained that the five-minute payment rule was implemented to prevent abuse, like drop-off and pick-up misuse. However, Ms Hudson argued that she paid the full tariff and wasn’t using the car park for short-term stays.
Ms Hudson attempted to appeal directly to Excel and contacted a debt recovery service, but she was unsuccessful. Ms Hudson now faces a court hearing within six months, following a failed mediation attempt.
