By Brendan Rees
A Cranbourne man, who was slapped with a parking fine at Merinda Park train station, says the State Government is “running a scam to make money.”
Pramit Paweja was outraged to cop two $32 parking tickets within a week in May by the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (DECDJTR) because he was not in a “designated parking bay.”
However, Mr Paweja says he was wrongly issued the tickets as some of the parking bays within the Merinda station car park “were altered” due to the recent level crossing removal and Thompson Road duplication works.
According to Mr Paweja his car was parked within the marked lines: “You can see the white line is quite visible from the naked eye.”
He asked the Department to review his tickets, arguing “there is no indication, signs or markings to indicate clearly and satisfactorily that it was not a parking bay.”
“The Department decided to uphold there decision to serve me the infringement.”
Mr Paweja sought legal advice where he was told he had a “strong argument” of challenging the tickets in court.
But “due to the low financial value of the fine it was recommended to pay the infringement,” he said.
Mr Paweja says the experience has left him feeling “empty” and “helpless,” at the “peril of the DECDJT.”
“The Department is running a scam to make money from the public by issuing infringements falsely despite being aware of the change in circumstances in the area and deliberately not putting clear signage around the concerned parking spots.
“I feel it is wrong to pay for no fault of my own,” he added. “Despite the low value of the infringement and the amount of time it has taken me to deal with this issue I decided to stand for integrity and what is morally right.”
Mr Paweja approached the office of Cranbourne MP Jude Perera who has since written to the Department asking for “better signage” at Merinda Park station.
DECDJTR has been contacted for comment.
