Roar Fjeld had done most of the right things when he parked at the triangle shopping center in Asker. He had created an account on Autopay and registered his car number and credit card. Roar Fjeld said he had done almost everything right when he parked at the shopping center in Asker. Photo: Snorre Tønset / news He had nevertheless forgotten to tick the box on automatic number plate recognition, and therefore had to pay a fee. – One thinks one is being registered. That is the point, says Fjeld. – In the end, I think it was very strange, because I had license plate recognition and a bunch of parking apps, he adds. Fjeld believes that the large number of players on the market is confusing: – It is a jungle of several companies responsible for parking and invoicing. When a bill comes, it doesn’t say OnePark, it says Riverty, Arvato or whatever it’s called. Received an invoice fee of NOK 420 In the course of a week, Roger Gresdal parked six times at the center in Steinkjer. Both times he was just over the free time of two hours. In the mail, he received a parking fee of NOK 240, together with an invoice fee of NOK 420. – I stopped by to meet some famous people, drink some coffee, and then the clock goes by fast. Two hours quickly turns into two hours and a quarter, he says. On one and the same day, Roger Gresdal received two invoice fees. Photo: Eivind Aabakken / news – You have to pay for some of that. But then there are these administration fees they add to each transaction. There are several times on the same day and several days after each other. Gresdal believes the practice is in a clear gray area: You can stand for two hours for free at Amfi in Steinkjer and many other places. Photo: Eivind Aabakken / news – Some dirty practice. It is clear that it is a gray area, and that it is exploited to “the bitter end”. The Consumer Council: – The sum contributed to confusion In 2021, the ten largest parking companies in Norway will have a turnover of NOK 2.5 billion. The Consumer Council receives more and more complaints about expensive invoice fees. They believe several large companies are speculating in making good money from fees. – I am completely convinced of that, says director of the consumer council Jorge Jensen. – The amount has become so high that it is out of control. We see companies that refer to this in their accounts as fee production. Jorge Jensen in the Consumer Council receives several complaints from people who have paid dearly for parking. Photo: Martin Leigland / news – Here we have to make strong moves in the regulations, he insists. Jensen says that invoice fees have become a growing consumer problem: – Invoice fees are becoming the source of income for quite a few suppliers. It is not only parking companies that do this, but suddenly you pay more in invoice fees than what you have used from services. No ticket, drive in, drive out, says the sign. But if you don’t do everything correctly, you still risk an invoice fee. Photo: Snorre Tønset / news He says that the information is often not there to make things easier for the consumer, but to protect the rights of the company: – The amount contributes to confusion and there may well be a question as to whether it legally meets the requirement about information, but there is no doubt that it confuses people. Is the company allowed to make money from invoice fees? – They are allowed to have their expenses covered. As of now, we see that it is entirely possible to create an invoice fee that is cheaper than what is usual in the market, concludes Jensen. Industry organization concerned about the development Time Park, which runs the car park at Steinkjer, says they have to issue an invoice for every single parking that is not paid for in cash or with an app. They believe this is costing the company a lot of money. Henrik Begby Andersen, day-to-day manager of Time Park, says that they have large costs associated with invoicing. Photo: Snorre Tønset / news Is it reasonable that the invoice fee should cost NOK 70 each time? – For us, we have to take account of all the costs we have when invoicing. And we have a not inconsiderable cost linked to system suppliers, but perhaps most of all to customer service, says Time Park’s daily manager Henrik Begby Andersen. – The most common question we get is “why have I received an invoice?”. There is a large cost associated with invoicing, and we primarily do not want to invoicing, he adds. – In isolation, we do not spend much on invoicing, it is not one of our primary sources of income, but we must cover our costs, he concludes. Last summer, the Consumer Council published a report which showed that it cost less than NOK 6 to send an invoice by post, and even less with an e-invoice, but consumers still have to pay up to NOK 100 in invoice fees. Daily manager of the industry organization Nordpark, Lars Monsen, says that they are concerned about the development of the size of invoice fees. Lars Monsen from the Norwegian Parking Association says that they want to clarify issues surrounding the invoicing scheme. Photo: Snorre Tønset / news – In short, we agree with the Consumer Council that some of the amounts that are used are higher than the real cost, and that they are therefore in breach of the law, he says. – We have therefore started a process to clarify all matters surrounding the issue, he adds.
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Parking company collects money on invoice fees – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
