Dubai: People are asking if mParking is more of an inconvenience rather than a convenience.
Gulf News readers, who responded to an article on the Road and Transport Authority's mParking, said they had experienced several issues with the system.
James Vadakkekalam, who wrote to the newspaper, said: "I went into a shopping mall, paid my parking via SMS. When I came out I found a fine on my wind shield.
"I went to the inspector who issued the ticket and asked him why he did so when I had a valid ticket via SMS. His answer was ‘It's the RTA system. If you had a ticket I will not be able to issue a fine.' When I showed him the SMS he said ‘It's the system there's nothing I can do.'"
According to readers other common issues with mParking are lack of SMS confirmations, system failure messages and fines for non-Dubai registered vehicles despite receiving confirmation.
Boney Coelho has been a regular mParking user in the Karama area, but said that for the past month or so, she has been receiving error messages when she tries to pay. In her post on gulfnews.com, she said: "I have been a regular mParking user at Zone 318C in Karama for many months but ever since they changed the timings during Ramadan, I started getting error messages.
Investigation
"When I inquired, they kept telling me that the case is under investigation. This went on for two months. It was only on October 11, I noticed that my previous zone had been changed."
Jeny Michaels, who also posted on gulfnews.com, said her experience with the mParking system was "unfair and unprofessional". She said: "I parked in Bur Dubai area and initially paid by my mobile. When I tried to extend it by an hour, I kept getting a system failure message and I should use an alternative way to pay."
For Dubai-based corporate sales executive associate Moiz Almoin, one bad experience was one too many.
He explained: "On June 1, 2010, I paid through mParking and got the confirmation SMS. When I returned after 25 minutes, I found a fine stuck to my wind shield, which said ‘not paying due fees'. I hunted for the inspector, showed him the confirmation SMS and asked him why the fine was given. He said that my car is registered in Fujairah, and mParking is for Dubai registered cars."
Almoin believes that if they are going to issue a fine, they should have another category on the ticket mentioning that it was because you are from another city not because you didn't pay the ticket when you did. He said he hasn't used the system again.
Common complaints:
• Tickets being printed with the wrong zone
• Sms conformations not received
• Fines for non-Dubai registered cars despite receiving comfirmation
• Error and system failure messages recieved