Private parking control firms may have to return levied fines

Appeals Court rules fines in breach of the law

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Private parking control companies may have to return the parking fines they have levied back to the motorists. The Helsinki Court of Appeal determined on Thursday that the issued fines were illegal.
      Private parking control companies have operated in Finland since 2004, especially in the capital area and elsewhere in the south.
      Finland’s largest private parking control firm ParkCom took to the Court of Appeal their case against a motorist, who had refused to pay the issued fine on the grounds of questioning the company’s powers.
      According to the Court of Appeal ruling, private land-owners and parking control companies do not have the jurisdiction to issue control fees to motorists. Only the police and municipal traffic wardens possess this authority.
      The Ministry of Justice is only now preparing a law on the activities of private parking control companies.
     
ParkCom is now planning to file for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
      This means the Court of Appeal’s ruling will not be legally valid at least for another couple of months.
      ParkCom Managing Director Tom Ek says that the company will continue issuing tickets to motorists at least for the time being.
      According to Ek, the paying of the fine is up to a motorist’s own discretion. “Should the Supreme Court find in our favour, there will be consequences to those motorists who left their fines unpaid. Previously we have won similar cases in the other Nordic countries”, Ek points out.
     
ParkCom refuses at this stage to promise that it would voluntarily return the  paid fines to the motorists, should the Court of Appeal’s decision remain legally binding.
      “It is too early to comment on that until we hear the Supreme Court’s verdict”, Ek says.
      Would it not be fair to tell people now if they are still paying the fees?
      “We will comment on that in due time.”
     
The Consumer Agency made enquiries about the same thing from ParkCom and the field’s second largest company ParkPatrol last summer.
      “Unfortunately we did not get a clear answer from either one”, frowns lawyer Mika Hakamäki.
      The Consumer Agency will issue the consumers with instructions on how to retrieve the paid fees as quickly as possible, should the Court of Appeal’s ruling remain unchanged in the Supreme Court.
      A group complaint may also come into question should the parking control firms refuse to return the levied fines.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Private parking control company drops lawsuits (26.2.2008)

See also:
  Helsinki´s underground parking structures will soon accommodate three times as many cars as street parking (15.9.2008)

Helsingin Sanomat