Melanie Marunui used her Visa debit card to pay for $1.50 parking in Great King St on Monday and $2.50 parking in George St on Tuesday.
When Mrs Marunui checked her bank account online on Tuesday she was shocked to see Dunedin City Council (DCC) parking meter authorisations for $16 and $12 respectively.
‘‘That's my money they've taken. That's stealing,'' Mrs Marunui said.
DCC development services manager Kevin Thompson said two similar complaints had been received but the issue needed to be addressed by the parking meter installer, Global Integrated Solutions (GIS), and its wireless transaction provider, Direct Payment Solutions (DPS).
DPS declined to comment until the issues were clarified.
GIS technical director Mark Oliver, of Auckland, said it was not a problem he had encountered before and would comment once he had investigated it.
Mrs Marunui said matching authorisation numbers on the parking tickets and the bank statement meant the money withdrawn was specific to that parking.
‘‘How would they feel if we just dipped into their bank account and took what we wanted?'' she asked.
She telephoned the council and was told she would need to produce the tickets. But when she visited the service centre yesterday she was told the person who could deal with it was away for the day.
Mr Thompson told The Star two other ‘‘verbal queries from the public'' had been received, one on July 25. Council staff had contacted GIS and DPS after the July 25 query.
As a result, his understanding was that when someone used a card to pay for parking the parking meter software checked there was enough money in the person's bank account and then held the maximum amount payable until the payment was due.
The DPS website says it ‘‘ties the funds up for seven days''.
From The Star's inquiries it seems if, for example, a person wants one hour of parking at a $3/hour meter which allows a maximum of three hours parking, $9 will be withdrawn from the person's account for seven days while the $3 payment is processed. Or, as in Mrs Marunui's case, $28 until the $4 is processed.
Mr Thompson said it was ‘‘an authorisation, not a deduction'' and that it was ‘‘not a council problem''.
‘‘They [GIS] would have set up the meters however it is done throughout New Zealand. We don't get in to the detail of how they go about it.''
Taking more than the amount payable was unjustifiable, Mrs Marunui said.
‘‘They are saying tough, you'll have to wait for seven days to get it back.
‘‘I think that's disgusting. What if people need that money in the meantime?''
DPS sales manager Josh Cragg, of Auckland, declined to comment yesterday because ‘‘there seems to be very conflicting information which may possibly be incorrect''.
Mr Oliver said he had not encountered this problem in the five years GIS had been installing parking meters in New Zealand.
Debit cards, which were relatively new in this country, might be the source of the problem, he said.
‘‘I'm sure between us and the banks we can sort it out.''
The city council recently installed 150 new meters capable of processing credit and debit card payments.
