Hundreds of thousands of Australians wrongly given parking fines: How to get your money back
A Melbourne council has overcharged nearly 250,000 rate payers for breaching parking time limits.
The major parking fine bungle saw Merri-bek Council overcharge more than $12million to an estimated 248,000 motorists between 2013 and when the oversight was uncovered this month.
Merri-bek Council, formerly Moreland Council, covers regions including Brunswick, Coburg, Pascoe Vale and parts of Fitzroy North.
The motorists were overcharged, on average, $50 more per fine and now the council needs to find $12million to repay the fined drivers.
Merri-bek Council's longest serving councillor Oscar Yildiz blamed an administrative error made in 2013 for the blunder.
'As a councillor, I want to acknowledge that council made a serious mistake,' he said.
'As soon as this came to light, we acted quickly, took responsibility, and established a 12-month refund scheme for those affected. Yes, it will impact our budget, but doing the right thing matters more.'
Starting in early July, an opt-in refund scheme will be available for a year, giving people the chance to recover the overcharged portion.
CEO of Merri-bek City Council Cathy Henderson apologised to those affected.
'Today's announcement reflects Merri-bek City Council's commitment to integrity, transparency and fairness. Now that we have found the mistake, we are fixing it,' she said.
'This is a regrettable historical administrative error, and we apologise for the impact of the overcharge.
'Parking is a limited resource and to ensure fair access for everyone, parking restrictions and controls are necessary. All revenue raised from parking fines is reinvested back into our community to provide services and facilities to the Merri-bek community. '
The 11 fines eligible for refunds
1. Parked for period longer than indicated
2. Parked fail to pay & obey instructions on sign
3. Stopped contrary to a No Parking sign
4. Stopped on a bicycle parking area
5. Stopped on a motor bike parking area
6. Parked contrary to requirement of parking area
7. Parked not at an angle of 45 degrees
8. Parked not at an angle of 90 degrees
9. Parked not completely within a parking bay
10. Parked long vehicle exceed minimum number of bays
11. Parked wide vehicle exceed minimum number of bays
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