A woman in an affluent Australian suburb has sparked a heated debate over whether to go cashless after a major change to parking lots in the area.
The resident discovered that recently upgraded parking meters in North Sydney exclusively accept digital payments.
“The new parking meters in North Sydney do not seem to accept cash. So if we want to park in North Sydney we need our mobile phone as they do not seem to accept cards either,” the furious woman wrote online.
‘I was under the impression that cash was still the norm in Australia and that since North Sydney is part of Australia, it should be accepted.
“I think this measure is illegal and that these parking meters should be removed immediately. Another problem is that they are difficult to identify; they look more like ashtrays than parking meters.”
The change is not illegal as it is still a legitimate form of payment accepted.
Australians have reignited the debate in recent months after a teenager revealed she had “no idea” what to do with $5 notes and a study found people spend more when using cashless payment methods.
North Sydney City Council decided to go cashless because only one in 26 visitors used it.
North Sydney City Council decided to go cashless because only one in 26 visitors used it
TO statement The council says: ‘Over the past year, the number of people paying with coins to park has dropped to less than 4 per cent.
“Furthermore, failures in current parking meters are mainly caused by vandalism and jamming of coin-operated payment machines. Eliminating coin-operated payments ensures the long-term reliability of our parking meters by reducing these ongoing maintenance costs.”
Many North Sydney residents criticised the woman’s anger.
“This system allows you to pay as you park and you can track the time from your phone – it eliminates parking tickets that leave you frantically running back to your car because you didn’t put in enough 50 cent coins,” argued one.
“You’re angry because you have to carry your phone to pay for parking, but you took a photo of this parking meter with your phone,” said another.
But others saw the problem of requiring the use of mobile phones to pay for parking.
“It seems that it is now also mandatory to carry a smartphone when driving and using the taximeter. What happens if you go out without your phone? Personally, I have no problem with not accepting cash, but at least it should be a tap and go service,” said one woman.
“Having to download an app to use the parking meter is a bit ridiculous,” added another. “Older people may not have smartphones or know how to scan a QR code.”