A council has caused outrage by introducing higher parking charges for drivers who pay by cash and don’t use a smartphone app.
According to The Independent:
Liberal Democrat-run Sutton Council in south London was urged by the Government to reconsider its policy, while the RAC described the measure as “discriminatory”.
The local authority increased its car park prices in June for people using machines to pay but froze them for those who use an app or automated telephone line, analysis by the PA news agency found.
The council said this was in response to the rising cost of providing the machines.
Following the change, using the borough’s council-owned car parks for an hour costs £3 if paid for at a machine but just £2 via the RingGo app or phone service.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “This practice unfairly penalises those who choose to pay at parking machines, and we ask that Sutton Council reconsiders their policy.
“Councils have a duty to ensure that they do not discriminate in their decision making against older people or those with vulnerabilities.”
The department’s Secretary of State Michael Gove wrote to councils in April expressing concern about drivers being “digitally excluded” through parking machines being replaced by apps.
Several councils have introduced parking surcharges for diesel vehicles as part of emissions-based schemes, but several motoring experts were not aware of local authorities previously setting higher prices for cash payments.
Conservative MP Greg Smith, who is a member of the Transport Select Committee, said: “Councils should not seek to rip off those who still want to use a pay and display machine.
“Whilst the vast majority of us now use parking apps, there are many who can’t or don’t want to.”
RAC spokesman Rod Dennis described making the cheapest parking available only to those who use a service such as RingGo as “nothing short of discriminatory”.
