St. Petersburg to raise unpaid parking fine to 5,000 rubles

The St. Petersburg administration has developed amendments to the city«s Code of Administrative Offenses, providing for an increase in the fine for unpaid parking. For offending drivers, the amount could rise from 3,000 to 5,000 rubles (approximately $30 to $50 at current rates).

The bill was published on January 26 and amends Article 37_2. Currently, occupying a paid parking space without payment incurs a fine of 3,000 rubles (about $30) for all categories of offenders. According to the innovations, the penalty will be tightened and differentiated:

• for individuals and individual entrepreneurs — 5,000 rubles (approximately $50);
• for legal entities — 30,000 rubles (approximately $300).

The decision to increase fines is due to the fact that after the previous increase in parking tariffs in some areas of the city, violating the rules has become economically more beneficial for drivers than timely payment.

Simultaneously, the authorities are discussing the implementation of a mechanism that allows car owners to correct errors made when paying for a parking session by the end of the current day. This will help avoid fines in situations where a failure occurs due to inattention or technical problems. Currently, for such mistakes, a fine of 3,000 rubles (about $30) is immediately issued.