Parking Lot Payments in Fractions of Hours
A bill that establishes the practice of charging for fractions of hours in private parking lots in Curitiba has proceeded through all committees of the City Council and is ready for consideration at the plenary of the House.
According to Councilman Pedro Paulo (PT), the objective of the proposal is to ensure the adequacy of local legislation under the Consumer Protection Code, which ensures that the user pays for what he or she effectively uses.
Specifically, the bill would divide the first hour into 15-minute intervals by which the user can be charged, instead of the full hour, as is common practice today. Municipal law 7.551/90 establishes that the price charged for the first hour of parking will be entirely independent of the duration of the vehicle in the establishment.
“Many private parking lots have informally adopted a grace period of between five and 15 minutes, after which the customer is charged for the full hour. The Paraná Ministry of the Public has indicated to the City Council that an adjustment is needed so that the consumer is not harmed. This is our goal,” said Mr. Paulo.
In justification of the project, Paulo points out that, “Parking lots right now have legal precedent for such charges. However, the hourly service was configured with respect to the consumer, and therefore must obey the Code of Consumer Protection. Thus, we want parking lots to be forbidden from requiring the consumer to pay a minimum fee for a service that he or she does not effectively use. We must seek the lowest fractional unit possible so that consumers can pay only for what they use.”
