NSW government intervenes on digital parking fine system

The NSW government has placed a ticketless parking fine system used by councils under review and frozen any more councils from onboarding to it.

The system began as a trial in May 2020 and is currently used by 48 councils. Another 80 councils across the state “do not currently issue ticketless parking fines”, the government said.

Finance minister Courtney Houssos wrote to all 128 councils over the weekend to raise concerns about the implementation of the system.

The digital system allows councils to “send details of a fine directly to Revenue NSW which then sends an infringement notice by post or the Service NSW app.”

However, Houssos noted that “in most cases the driver has no indication they have received a ticket”, and that “a driver can receive multiple parking infringements before receiving a notification via post or the Service NSW app.”

It was not immediately clear where the threshold limitation was set that triggered notification.

Houssos has asked councils using the system to provide some sort of immediate notification that a fine had been issued, potentially via a card left on the vehicle.

“This could be as simple as a note, which could take the form of a standardised, pre-printed card, noting that a fine has been issued,” Houssos wrote in the letter.

“This note does not necessarily need to form part of the infringement notice but at a minimum it should inform the driver they will soon receive an infringement notice via post or the Service NSW app.

“Doing so will provide drivers immediate notification that they have been given a parking fine and will allow them to take their own photos and note down relevant details.”

Councils were also urged to review processes and ensure “photographic evidence” of the alleged infringement “is captured and transmitted to Revenue NSW.”

Houssos noted that evidence capture is “not a mandatory requirement of the scheme” but is a capability of the system.

“The current implementation of the ticketless parking system has eroded trust in the parking fine system,” Houssos said in a statement.

“Providing immediate notification to drivers is the right thing to do and is an important first step to restoring community trust in the administration of the fines system.”

She also wrote “to the 80 councils which do not issue ticketless parking fines, informing them that new councils won’t gain access to the ticketless parking fine system while Revenue NSW undertakes more consultation.”