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Late parking lot payment can't negate ticket, B.C. tribunal clarifies

B.C. man argued because he paid for parking at some point during the day, he should not be fined.
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Parking lot fees must be paid for the time period in which the car is parked, a B.C. tribunal member has clarified.

You can’t get a parking ticket then pay for parking thereafter and subsequently dispute the violation because you made a payment, according to the B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal.

Rodney Thornley took EasyPark to the tribunal to dispute the $50 ticket he paid, after a Vancouver parking lot employee issued him the fine on July 27, 2022.

Thornley had parked his car in the lot in the morning. Lot employees checked on the car three different times, within 13 minutes. Each time they checked, the car was parked without a payment and so a ticket was issued.

After receiving the ticket, Thornley paid for parking between 2:05 p.m. and 6 p.m.

“Mr. Thornley argues because he paid for parking at some point during the day, he should not be fined. I disagree,” stated tribunal member Andrea Ritchie.

“I do not accept Mr. Thornley’s argument that paying later should invalidate the ticket. If such a situation were allowed, no one would pay for parking unless or until they were issued a ticket, and then would have that ticket overturned by subsequently paying the parking rate instead of the fine amount. I find this would be inconsistent with the purpose of pay parking. Given all the above, I dismiss Mr. Thornley’s claim for a refund of the parking fine,” stated Ritchie.

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