FIB criticises minister over slow action on parking fees

mbl.is reports that the board of the Icelandic Association of Car Owners, FÍB, has criticised the minister of business affairs for failing to do enough over the past year to improve car owners’ position in disputes with parking companies.

On Friday, the Ministry of Infrastructure submitted plans for a bill amending traffic legislation to the government’s consultation portal. The proposed changes would cover, among other things, fees charged by private operators at car parks, and the bill is expected to be presented in November.

However, it is unclear whether the bill will address FÍB’s concerns. The plans do not specify what measures would be taken to strengthen the public’s position gegenüber operators of paid car parks.

In an article published on its website on Friday, FÍB said more than a year had passed since Hanna Katrín Friðriksson said she would take action after being shocked by a high non-payment fee at Kirkjufell.

In January, the minister presented proposals for improving the situation and limiting the impact of high fees charged by private companies for parking on the public’s expense. She said marketing laws should be tightened, regulations on traffic signs changed and a website created listing all paid car parks. A single comprehensive regulation on paid parking was also said to be a possibility.

New marketing legislation took effect in May, in line with the minister’s commitments. FÍB said it had had little or no effect on the issue most frequently criticised: non-payment fees.

FÍB also said that measures taken by Iceland’s Consumer Agency appeared to focus entirely on small print and therefore did not address the main problem. The agency fined parking companies Parka and EasyPark last month over inadequate information and signage on their signs.

The presentation of the planned traffic law amendments says their purpose is to clarify the existing legal framework and improve the public’s position gegenüber operators of paid car parks. It does not, however, explain how the authorities intend to achieve that goal.

FÍB said the government’s promised website listing paid car parks had not been created, and that neither regulations on paid parking nor revised regulations on traffic signs had been introduced.