A woman issued a parking ticket by Brisbane City Council has urged others to check their tickets, after she discovered it had been issued 10 minutes before her validity expired. Val Trifunov parked in Grey Street South Bank, on September 11 and bought a parking ticket that expired at 9.48am. But when she returned to her car, she found an $82 fine on the dashboard.
Then she noticed it had been issued at 9.38am. "I usually trust when I get a fine there's a reason for it but then I looked at the time and saw I had got it at 9.38," she said. "It just makes me wonder how many other people have been impacted by false fines and not even realised."
Brisbane City Council lifestyle chairperson Mas Krista Adams said a parking officer had issued the ticket in error. Ms Adams told Fairfax Media when alerted to the mistake, council had waived the fine - but Ms Trifunov said they are yet to inform her that it had been waived. "I have been told I have to wait for 21 days and it's been really annoying," she said. "I have had to take photos and dispute it online and it's just been really annoying." But Ms Adams cited Ms Trifunov's case as an example that the appeals process worked. “If someone ever discovers an error or feels like they've been unfairly issued a ticket we always encourage them to contact council ... to have it reviewed,” she said.Ms Adams said council's disputes commissioner dealt with 1960 fines in the 2011/12 financial year, 24 per cent of which were waived. She said there were no more recent figures available. Brisbane City Council opposition leader Milton Dick said council needed to lift its game. "It's fines like this one that explains how Council will make $50.4 million in parking fines and meter revenue this year," he said.Return to main Council Parking Fines page.