KUALA LUMPUR: Netizens have shared their experience dealing with parking touts, including getting threats for refusing to pay.
Adib Faris, 27, spoke about dealing with parking touts in Pasar Seni a few days ago.
"I parked on the roadside in Pasar Seni to have dinner at a nearby restaurant. A parking tout approached and asked for RM5.
"I refused to pay because the road is not theirs. It is a public area where anyone can park their vehicle."
Adib said he had encountered these parking touts a few times and understands their tactic of threatening people to pay.
"I know their tactics. They will say that if anything happened (to my car), they won't be responsible for it.
"This doesn't only happen in Pasar Seni. I have encountered them in Petaling Street as well.
"Even though Kuala Lumpur City Hall officers often patrol and catch them, a few days later they will be back. This is a never-ending problem."
Last December, a woman found her car scratched after refusing to pay RM15 to park in Bukit Bintang.
Amir Ridhwan, 25, said he encountered a parking tout near a food area in Bukit Bintang.
"I went to Bukit Bintang with my friend. I parked at a public area. In that area, you only need to pay from 7.30am to 6pm. I went at night, so I shouldn't need to pay.
"But once I got out of my car, a woman and her son asked me to pay RM5."
He said at first, he refused to pay, but his friend raised concerns about what the parking touts might do in response.
"My friend said they might damage my car. He assumed that would happen if people refused to pay.
"My second encounter was in Kuala Lumpur, where they demanded RM10. But this time they moved in a group. That scared me. I feared they might resort to violence if I refused to pay."
Yesterday, a parking tout was sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined by the City Hall's magistrate's court for operating illegally.
The tout, along with seven other individuals, including five foreigners, were charged after being detained by the City Hall Enforcement Department under Op Jaga to catch unauthorised parking attendants last Thursday.
NST has reached out to City Hall for comment.