Twice unlucky with undue parking fines

DUBAI - You can be issued parking fine even if your vehicle is parked in the designated area and you have a valid parking permit affixed to its windscreen: a twice-unlucky Pakistani woman has learnt it the hard way.

By Abid-ur-rehman Rana

Published: Fri 17 Feb 2006, 10:48 AM

Last updated: Thu 20 Oct 2022, 2:51 PM

Saeeda Ghani Sayal, the only businesswoman in the upscale satellite market in the city’s Naif area, was issued a Dh150 ticket for her company’s delivery van, a white colour Mazda, on the morning of February 12. The vehicle had been parked in the Naif area and had a parking permit affixed to the windscreen and clearly visible from every angle, she claimed.

“It really spoiled my day when our delivery van driver told me about the undue fine. When I checked the ticket to find out what had gone wrong, it was all the more upsetting — the offence mentioned was ‘Ticket/permit not displayed clearly’ which was never the case,” Mrs Ghani said. She added that the all-area parking permit, a copy of which Khaleej Times received through fax and found nothing wrong with it, remains properly affixed to the vans windscreen ever since it was purchased on May 5 last year. She said that she had paid Dh2,500 for the permit which is valid till May 5, 2006.

“Why the parking inspector went about issuing a fine is still a mystery for me. I myself checked the affixed permit and found nothing wrong with it," said the Pakistani businesswoman.

She also told this paper that a few months ago she had to pay a Dh250 fine for an offence which she never committed.

“I visited a showroom in Bur Dubai and parked my car in the parking lot. When I returned, I found a Dh250 fine ticket on my car. I approached the parking inspector and asked why the ticket had been issued. To my surprise, I was told that I had entered the parking area crossing over the pavement, something which I never ever did in my 18 years driving in the city,” said the woman.

She said when she asked the inspector how he was so sure it was she who did that, he replied that he had seen a “black Pajero” crossing over the pavement from quite a distance 15 minutes ago.

“It was simply outrageous for me since my car, which incidentally is also a black Pajero, had been parked there for about an hour or so, said the woman.

“I could have proved that if I had put a parking ticket on my vehicle’s dashboard, the time on the parking ticket would have been a proof enough to convince the inspector that it was not the vehicle he had seen 15 minutes ago. But I didn't get one simply because I have a one-year parking permit for my personal car too,” said Mrs Ghani.

She said that she approached the officials at the Municipality too and tried to convince them that she was being made to pay Dh250 for someone else’s traffic offence, but to no avail. She had to pay the fine in the end, said Mrs Ghani.