Investigation urged against Budapest parking company

The center-right opposition party MDF is pushing for a Parliamentary committee to be set up to investigate whether Budapest parking company Centrum Parkoló Kft. operates in a manner that disadvantages district governments, reports fn.hu. The company has responded by threatening a lawsuit, claiming the data supporting the "attack" are false.

The portal earlier wrote that Centrum, which manages the collection of parking fees in seven Budapest districts, pays much less of its revenue (27%) to local governments than the two other parking companies working in the city, which give 32% and 55% of their income to the districts. It also charged that Centrum monopolized the so-called "mobile parking" industry (which allows motorists to pay for parking with mobile phones) in Budapest by founding Első Mobilfizetés Elszámoló Zrt., which received Ft 250 million (roughly €1 million) in state funding.

Centrum's director, György Fürst, dismissed the allegations, saying that the company rents devices - including parking meters - for large monthly fees, while its two competitors receive this equipment for free from local governments. Moreover, many drivers in Centrum's area of operations receive discounts on parking fees that are not available in other zones.

MDF Chairwoman Ibolya Dávid told the portal that her party will do everything necessary to find out whether any local governments have been harmed as a result of having contracted with Centrum. She has sent a letter to Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány (MSZP) and opposition leader Viktor Orbán (Fidesz) to ask for their support in setting up an investigative committee, but as of Wednesday evening had not received a response.

Dávid added that if the MSZP and the Fidesz do not support such a committee, then the MDF will "force" the examination of the contracts with "long, [and] more painful work." She said that a communications campaign could be started to bring attention to the fact that the contracts are bad for the local governments, adding that she did not understand why Centrum would have threatened a lawsuit if the company believed the contracts are correct.

• Email
• Save to My Caboodle