Many drivers suspect council parking rangers have quotas to fill, and now secret City of Sydney documents have exposed the pressure on inspectors to fine drivers who step out of line.
Titled ‘Parking Ranger Goals’, the papers, seen by 7NEWS, show that inspectors are expected to be “highly productive”, issuing fines for a “variety of offences”.
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Rangers have 143 offences to choose from, including stopping near a letter box, fire hydrant or on a nature strip — even parking badly in your own driveway will cost you $283.
Sydney woman Kate Meller told 7NEWS she was penalised for briefly parking in a disabled spot to help a friend in labour.
It cost her $644 and there was no leniency on appeal.
In a statement, the City of Sydney maintained that “rangers do not have quotas” but admitted they do have “targets”, with monthly productivity reports.
Fines are big business in the west of the city as well.
Almost $13.5 million was collected in Parramatta in 18 months, and Liverpool made $3.5 million last financial year after issuing 22,000 fines — up from 13,000 the year before.
The state government is looking into the way parking fines are reviewed after it found a so-called “fairness scheme” resulted in fewer than one in one thousand fines being reduced.
“(It’s) a process designed to wear and tear you down, so you just pay because you can’t be bothered,” Meller said.
NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury said people want “transparency” and “fairness”.
“What you don’t want is for the public to feel like they’re going away from being parking officers and becoming salespeople and looking for ways to fine people,” he said.