Secure Parking loses price hike suit

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta's largest parking operator, Secure Parking, was ordered on Monday by the Central Jakarta District Court to compensate an individual who filed a lawsuit against the company for increasing off-street parking fees last June.

Secure Parking was found guilty of violating Gubernatorial Decree No. 1698/1999, which sets parking fees in the capital at Rp 1,000 per hour for cars, and Jakarta Bylaw No. 5/1999, which stipulates that any increase in parking fees must be approved by the governor.

PT Securindo Packatama Indonesia, owner of the parking operator, is to compensate David ML Tobing, the plaintiff, Rp 1,000 (12 U.S. cents). The accused was also ordered to pay the cost of the legal proceedings.

"The hike by Secure Parking was illegal, as it was made before a new regulation on increased parking fees was issued in December," presiding judge Soeprapto said in the verdict.

Secure Parking will appeal the verdict.

Speaking after the trial, the plaintiff, who is a lawyer at a law firm on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta, said his victory over the parking operator could pave the way for a class action that he would soon file with hundreds of dissatisfied motorists.

"This will set a good precedent for customers -- that they have the right to press charges against an arbitrary parking rate increase," David said, and that the public need not ignore unfairness any longer.

When asked why he sought such a meager suit, he said: "Rp 1,000 is how much I suffered from the illegal increase in the parking rate."

On June 16, 2003, David found he had to pay Rp 3,000 after he parking his car for one hour and 31 minutes at Plaza Senayan, Central Jakarta. He should have only paid Rp 2,000, but the arbitrary increase by Secure Parking cost him an extra Rp 1,000.

The parking operator argued that the fee had already been increased at the beginning of June, after the Communication Forum for Private Parking Operators issued the decision.

The indiscreet hike had sparked criticism from the public and the City Council, who demanded the increase to be annulled.

Later, Secure Parking gradually rolled back the rate increase in accordance with the policies of building owners.

The parking operator, a joint venture between local and Australian companies, runs about 116 parking lots, or over 50 percent of all parking lots in the city.