News

5 May 2023

Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva sent a new letter to the Chairman of the Sofia Municipal Council, Georgi Georgiev, in continuation of another one dated 23 March 2023, in connection with the conditions for local paid parking in the city of Sofia.

This letter was prompted by alerts of citizens seeking assistance from the Ombudsman due to refusal by the Urban Mobility Centre EAD (UMC) in Sofia to issue an electronic vignette sticker for local paid parking in a blue zone. The reason is that the people did not have a license to drive a motor vehicle, but at the same time they have a car with which their relatives transport them, when this is necessary. The problem is that their cars cannot be parked near their home.

“For the time being, the institution has not received a response from you. A letter outgoing No. 987 of 23 March 2023 was addressed to the Mayor of Sofia Municipality, which informed us that it was forwarded to UMC. The UMC opinion (outgoing No. Ж-196/1/24.04.2023) is that the criteria for granting the right to local paid parking are set out in the Ordinance on the organisation of traffic on the territory of Sofia Municipality (the Ordinance) and they are based on the good practices of other European cities”, emphasizes Prof. Kovacheva.

She draws attention to the fact that elderly people, people with disabilities who need a car to get around, but due to their age and/or health do not have a valid driver’s license, use the help of their friends and relatives for their movement.

The Ombudsman does not accept the answer of the UMC that the solution to the problem is the issuance of an electronic vignette sticker to another member of the household who meets the criteria of Article 71 and Article 72 of the Ordinance.

“However, this is not a solution for citizens in the same situation who live alone or the other member of the household also does not meet the criteria of the mentioned provisions. By requiring a valid driver’s license as a condition for a local paid parking permit, these people’s cars cannot be parked next to their homes, which I think is wrong, lacking an objective and reasonable justification. In this scenario, a person without a driver’s license may also inherit a car that, until a certain moment, could be parked next to their home, but due to the fact that the heir does not have a driver’s license, must be moved to an unknown place,” Diana Kovacheva emphasizes. 

She is categorical that the driver's license is not a guarantee that the persons who meet the requirements for local paid parking actively use their cars, which is the argument put forward by UMC.

“In view of the above, there is no equality between car owners living in hourly paid parking zones. It is correct that they should be treated equally, the leading criterion  should be the fact of ownership of the motor vehicle and the address, so as to ensure the possibility of the vehicles owned by them to be parked as close as possible to their home, under eased conditions, which is the purpose of the local paid parking”, writes the Ombudsman and recommends an amendment to Article 72 of the Ordinance in the part that introduces a requirement for a driving license.