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Civil penalty charge notices (Councils, TFL and so on) / Re: Manchester Council, PCN code 73, Wrong Registration Entered (0/O) in Arndale Car Park
« on: July 13, 2026, 09:53:19 pm »27. Subject to Articles 29 and 35 of this Order, should no indication appear on the hand held
device that payment of the parking charge has been made or an indication that the parking
period for which payment of the parking charge was made has expired it shall be presumed
unless the contrary is proved, that either -
(a) the parking charge has not been duly paid tn respect of that vehicle, or
(b) the parking period for which payment of the parking charge was made
has already expired, or
(c) the free parking period has not been registered, or
(d) the free parking period has expired.
But from what I can see, you have proved and they have accepted 'the contrary'.
This is about failure to comply with the provisions in an Order, so which provision do they claim was breached given that they accept that the 'owner' who they are pursuing paid.
Have they highlighted the provisions which they are drawing to the adjudicator's attention?
Coming back to this for pre-hearing cramming/prep...
I can't see that they have highligted the provisions but have provided their statement on the matter here:
The Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) recorded that the vehicle was parked in a pay-on-arrival car
park without payment for a parking session being made.
The information on the car park signage states that ‘A parking session must be purchased at the
time of parking’ and a penalty charge notice will be issue for being ‘Parked without payment of
the parking charge’ (Evidence 15-16).
The CEO carried out their observations and checked for a parking payment on their handheld
computer, however a parking session for vehicle registration FL15NFO could not be found
(Evidence 3).
The Council submits that the vehicle registration was entered as FL15NF0 (zero) and not
FL15NFO:
The Council submits that upon purchasing parking time motorists are required to accurately
enter the full vehicle registration by using the correct letters/numbers on the keypad (Evidence
17).
A previous Penalty Charge Notice was cancelled when the vehicle registration was incorrectly
entered and the appellant was advised that further Penalty Charge Notices issued for the same
reason may not be cancelled (Evidence 21).
The Council is satisfied that the contravention occurred and the registered keeper is liable for
the outstanding charge.
I've written out the following as my crib notes:
Points to mention in hearing:
A 0 can be used in place of a O as per in normal language
If there's a 0 on the keypad, it can be perceived as tripping users up
They should not fetter discretion
There has been no loss by the mistake
The font on car number plates is exactly the same for zero and letter O
The legislation doesn't indeed include zero so that the letter O is used as a zero really shouldn't be allowed e.g. The number 1 is included but not the letter I and the letter is not used presumably because of confusion but of course these two are also still confused
The pay machine does not include 'wrong reg' as a contravention for which a penalty charge is payable.
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emphasises that enforcement must be “reasonable and proportionate”, support safe and sustainable transport solutions, and deliver an equitable, neighbourhood‑focused service. Imposing a fine for a non‑contravention would conflict with these commitments.
