RingGo App: Some drivers find issues with new parking system

Incorrect fines and extra fees have been reported by some members of the public using Northern Ireland's new parking system.

Changes came into effect earlier in April.

Blue coat parking attendants are now responsible for off-street public parking in eight council areas.

The company behind parking enforcement said if anyone believed they had been incorrectly fined they should follow its appeal procedures.

Customers still have the option to use cash, but the changes have also seen the introduction of a new RingGo app at some council-run pay-and-display car parks.

It has emerged that some people have still received parking tickets despite paying through the new app.

Laverne Miller has used the same car park in Enniskillen for years as it is close to her office in the centre of the town.

It is one of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council's car parks that is being monitored by blue coat parking attendants and the new RingGo app.

"I had downloaded the new app and everything seemed smooth enough when I had received this text to say my parking had started, but I had no idea I was going to be charged for that text," she said.

"Then later in the day, one of the girls came into the office and told me I had a ticket on my car and I couldn't believe it because I had confirmation from the app that my parking had started."

Ms Miller contacted the RingGo helpline and was advised she would have to send the company information by post in order to appeal against the charge.

"Clearly something went wrong, so I'm going back to using coins, I don't want to go through this hassle every day," she said.

Adam Gannon, a Social Democratic and Labour Party councillor for Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, said since the new app was introduced there had been a number of issues.

"People are starting their parking through the app in good faith but being fined, so I proposed at council this week that any fines given up to this point should be refunded," he said.

A spokesperson for Fermanagh and Omagh District Council said: the council was aware of issues with the traffic attendants' handheld device, which resulted in customers in the Shore Road West car park being fined despite having paid using the app.

The company Marston (Holdings) Ltd is responsible for the new parking enforcement app in place at eight councils across Northern Ireland.

A spokesperson for the company said if anyone believed they had been incorrectly find they should follow the appeals procedure as set out on the back of the parking ticket.

Issues have also been raised about extra fees when using the app.

For example, Mid Ulster Council said it had a minimum parking charge for its car parks of 40p for up to one hour.

But when using the RingGo app to park, users are also charged a 10p convenience fee and can incur a 30p fee for receiving confirmation texts, bringing the total to 80p.

On top of this, for each parking session booked through the app, a pre-authorisation fee is held on the user's bank account relating to the maximum charge of wherever they are parking.

The app does this to ensure users have enough money to pay and the amount can be held for up to seven days.

In Dungannon's Castle Hill car park this can be up to £4.15.

Mid Ulster Council said its minimum charge remained at 40p and any other charges were due to RingGo charges "including SMS reminders and confirmations if agreed by the customer".

The company said SMS reminders were an opt-in only option and could be turned off at any time.

It added that the pricing was "set as industry standard rates".

Richard Farquhar, who owns a pet shop business in the centre of Dungannon, said he did not think it was a fair system "if there are charges that aren't completely clear".

"The last thing we want is people being put off coming into the town because of parking confusion, as it's hard enough to get people to come away from online shopping."

Until recently, enforcement for on-street and off-street parking had been provided by red coat traffic attendants.

This was through an agreement between the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) and local councils.

Now blue coat parking attendants will be responsible for off-street public parking in parts of Northern Ireland.

DfI retains responsibility for regulating on-street parking in Northern Ireland and those parking attendants will still wear red coats.

The JustPark app will also still be used for on-street parking in some areas.

The change is happening because eight councils have entered a new enforcement contract for off-street parking with the company Marston Holdings Ltd.

Each council within the consortium has entered into their own separate contract with Marston Holdings to conduct car park enforcement within their off-street car parking portfolio.

Retail NI Chief Executive Glyn Roberts said: "This has not been handled well. There has been little or no communication with our members.

"Customers in rural towns rely on these car parks when they visit their stores. Clear and precise information is needed to ensure no consumers get tickets by mistake."