Proposed class-action lawsuit launched in B.C. is seeking damages for people who parked in lots run by Indigo Park
Additional fees charged to drivers who park in lots operated by Indigo Park are an example of the “widespread nuisance” of companies charging customer “junk fees,” according to a proposed class-action lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court.
The two fees the company adds to the posted parking rate at checkout are a 40-cent convenience fee and a one per cent transaction fee, according to the lawsuit.
It refers to such fees as junk fees, also known as drip pricing. It alleged such fees are illegal in Canada under Competition Act amendments in 2022 that banned the practise of “obligatory fees that make a represented price unattainable.”
“This is a class action against Indigo Park’s unlawful practice of charging its customers additional fees at checkout, on top of the posted rates for the parking,” it said.
The proposed lawsuit is seeking damages on behalf of anyone who has parked in a lot owned by the Quebec-based company since Jan. 9, 2022, anywhere in Canada. It says Indigo Park has “numerous” facilities in B.C., including 32 in the city of Vancouver, and it estimates the class to include tens of thousands of members.
Customers pay through its app or its website, it said.
The representative plaintiff, Ho Chun, scanned a QR code when he parked at Rocky Point Park on Sept. 20, where the posted rate was 75 cents a half hour, the claim says. The price breakdown for the transaction was 75 cents for parking, 40 cents for the convenience fee and one cent for the transaction fee, for a total of $1.16, it said.
And on Dec. 26, he parked at the lot at Canada Place, where the posted rate was $4 per half hour. He was charged $16 for two hours, plus the 40 cent convenience fee and 16 cent transaction fee for a total of $16.56, it said.
It alleged Indigo Park “knowingly represented” the hourly or daily rate on its prominent physical signs, and those rates included government taxes such as the GST and the B.C. TransLink parking tax, it said.
But the additional fees weren’t imposed by the government ,and the company “made them mandatory as part of each transaction,” the claim said.
“The first price is not attainable due to Indigo Park’s additional fees,” it said. “All of the class members are charged the second price, which is always higher than the first price.”
The lawsuit is asking for the court to certify the action as a class proceeding, declare that the company charged a price contrary to the Competition Act and engaged in a practice banned by the act.
None of the allegations have been proved in court.
A message left with Indigo Park wasn’t immediately returned.