The Consumer Council has taken public carpark operators to task for differential treatment against motorists using electronic payment with Octopus or credit cards at the exit gates.
The disparity arises as free grace period, of usually 15 minutes, is allowed for motorists using the conventional central payment method at the Shroff Office, to collect their vehicles and leave the carparks.
This same benefit, however, is not applicable in the case of electronic payment. The Council considers this differential treatment of customers in the levy of charges to be unfair.
The Council has received, from time to time, consumer feedback expressing dissatisfaction in the use of public carparks. Much of the problem seems to stem from the practice of charging minimum hourly rate.
With the wider use of computer technology, the Council believes it an opportune time to bring change in the tariff setting of public carpark charges.
To address the issue, the Consumer Council is putting forward a package of proposals that seeks to introduce a metering and billing system that is based more precisely on the actual duration of parking of the vehicles.
First and foremost, the use of computer technology has rendered the existing method of levy on an hourly basis outdated and unjustifiable.
The Council suggests that the industry should consider adopting a smaller time unit, as in the case with the Government's parking meters, which levy on a basis of every 15 minutes or quarter of an hour.
Second, the minimum duration parking charge should also be waived. A recent Council's survey has found some carparks to collect a minimum charge of two hours even if parking fees are levied on an hourly basis.
Third, carpark operators should assign attendants at busy periods to ensure a smooth flow of vehicular traffic leaving the carparks through the exit gates. This will avoid unnecessary delay and cost to the motorists.
It has been suggested that as a result of these changes, public carpark operators may have to increase the tariffs to compensate for the loss of cross-subsidization from the abolition of minimum hourly rate and minimum parking charge.
The Consumer Council, however, believes that the proposed system is fair and reasonable to all motorists using public carpark service, and will be subject to price pressure in a competitive market.
As carpark operators enhance their service with the use of electronic payment system offering great convenience to consumers, they should also strive to improve their trade practice to further meet the need of the motoring public.
The Consumer Council will liaise with the trade to encourage the adoption of the proposed measures beneficial to both the service providers and the consumers. The Council plans to conduct a further survey on public carparks, at an appropriate time, to assess the response to these measures for the information of the consumer public.
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