'No obligation' to tip car park attendants

Motorists are not obliged to tip car park attendants and there is no minimum amount of money to be given as a gratuity - irrespective of their demands, the Malta Transport Authority said.

It is unlawful for a car park attendant to request to be tipped or, worse still, expect and demand a minimum tip from motorists.

Cases where individuals posing as parkers demand a minimum amount of money is not a rarity. Some motorists have also claimed that their vehicle was vandalised by parkers who felt a tip was not enough.

But, when contacted, ADT's director for traffic management, Audrey Testaferrata de Noto, said the authority was determined to eradicate abuse once and for all.

Car park attendants were recently put under the jurisdiction of the ADT which pledged to regularise a sector that has often come in for scathing criticism.

Ms Testaferrata de Noto said the law made it very clear that "a car park attendant shall be permitted to keep any gratuities he may receive from motorists using the car park".

She said there had been instances where the police had intervened and the licence of such car park attendants was suspended by the ADT. Depending on the police inquiry, the licence would either be revoked permanently or reissued.

Ms Testaferrata de Noto said that complaints by the public are normally centred in areas where there is an acute parking problem, such as Valletta and Paceville. Whether they operate within Legal Notice 25 of 1961 which defines a car park attendant as "any person employed by a contractor for the purpose of regulating the parking of cars in a scheduled parking place" is another matter.

Though they seem to mushroom in every available public car park, there are actually only 56 licensed car park attendants operating in the 32 approved car parking sites in Malta and Gozo. Another 24 applications are on the waiting list, according to the ADT.

The authority was currently in the process of tagging all licensed parkers for identification, as well as carrying regular spot-checks.

Ms Testaferrata de Noto confirmed that a number of individuals had been discovered operating illegally at car parks but she urged the public to report any cases to the police or to the ADT itself.

The regulations also specify that in every scheduled parking place there must be at least one uniformed attendant on duty. Needless to say, this particular regulation is blatantly flouted by many.