Cabby's anger at parking fine

Jan 22 2009 by Emma Davison, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

AS a taxi driver, charging customers for fares is a daily part of Asif Iqbal’s job.

But he was left fuming when a £3 fare left him out of pocket by £57.

Mr Iqbal, a driver for Mount Taxis of Marsh, was hit with the fine after waiting to pick up a passenger in the car park of the Iceland frozen food store on Trinity Street, Huddersfield.

He waited several minutes for the customer to finish her shopping and after helping her to the car drove off and dropped her off at her home.

The local fare cost the passenger just £3, but weeks later Mr Iqbal received a parking charge notice from Sheffield-based Excel Parking Services after his taxi’s licence plate was caught on the company’s cameras.

The car park management service said the driver was liable to pay the £60 fine because he was parked without displaying a valid ticket.

But Mr Iqbal said the fine was ridiculous. He added that the company’s over-zealous approach would do other taxi drivers out of business.

He said: “I’ve been a driver for 11 years and I’ve never experienced anything like this before. It’s absolutely ludicrous that a £3 fare has ended up costing me this.

“This has happened to other taxi drivers and my firm is now having to turn away business from customers who want picking up from the car park or warn them that they may have to walk down the road to get to the taxi because we can’t go into the car park.

“This is ridiculous because it defeats the whole purpose of a taxi service.”

Mr Iqbal, of Birkby, arrived early for his fare and waited for 13 minutes in the car park to pick up his fare.

He said: “I arrived a few minutes early to pick up the customer. I went to the front of the supermarket to the loading bay, which is where we normally pick up and drop off customers.

“But there was a lorry there, so I parked in a parking bay but stayed in the car.

“I helped the customer to the car with her shopping and then took her home. Three weeks later I got a notice saying that I had to pay £60.

“I explained that I had parked to pick a customer up, but the company replied that the car park was a 24-hour pay and display car park and that drivers have to pay a fine if they don’t display a ticket.”

Mr Iqbal said: “We have elderly customers and vehicles that provide for disabled people, so they would really struggle if we had to park outside the car park as would customers with lots of heavy shopping bags.

“It’s all part of our service to help our customers with this and we should be able to provide this service.”

A spokeswoman for Excel Parking Services said: “Every person who enters the Iceland car park agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions of use of the car park.

“As part of the terms and conditions failure to purchase and or clearly display a valid ticket/ permit will result in a parking charge notice.

“Mr Iqbal did not purchase a ticket and was therefore issued with a notice.

“We have taken into account the points raised by Mr Iqbal in his appeal and have investigated them thoroughly.

“Whilst we appreciate that Mr Iqbal is a taxi driver and was there to collect his customer the duration that he was parked was a considerable time.

“As a result he is in breach of the contract he was bound to when he entered the car park, so the parking charge notice is still applicable.”

It seems unfair but if you're parked in a designated parking bay then you are effectively taking up a space they could be otherwise earning from. Might is always right and seems harsh but rules are rules init.

http://www.ticketfighter.co.uk/home.htm This could be useful in cases like this.

Ticketfighter provides information to help UK motorists fight unfairly issued parking, bus lane, yellow box junction and moving traffic offence tickets. Information on the regulations which some councils would rather you didn't know. Is the wording on the ticket legal? Do the signs and roadmarkings conform with the regulations? Is there a valid traffic order? Use the site to check everything complies with the law. If it doesn't, don't pay up