23 Nov 2025
A Harpenden resident has highlighted hidden charges buried in SADC’s controversial parking app.
Adam Shutkever was using the PayByPhone app to obtain the 30 minutes free parking time allocated to motorists since the imposition of on-street parking charges in February.
But on the acknowledgement screen he noticed it offered ‘extras before you go’, which included an invitation to claim a refund and a smaller statement that he would be charged £19.99 every two weeks following an indeterminate trial.
He said: “I have done a little digging into this, and discovered that this ‘trial’ is linked to a business called Rokt – strapline ‘Turn “Thank you” into Joy and Profit’.
“The website is full of jargon and pretty impenetrable but the gist, I think, is that businesses can make an additional return on sales made by encouraging their customers to sign up to a subscription service of some sort (I have no clue as to what this subscription would bring, save for a refund of £0 on Harpenden parking).
“I doubt that St Albans council has actively signed up to this- it is more likely that it is a ‘feature’ of the parking app- but I am greatly concerned that users of the app, many of whom are elderly and/or vulnerable and who may not understand what they are being offered, are being put at risk of unwittingly signing up to a very expensive subscription for I know not what. This cannot be right.”
In the wake of his concerns, the St Albans Times contacted SADC and Harpenden MP Victoria Collins for their reactions to the hidden charges.
Victoria said: “It is absolutely right that a local Harpenden resident raised concerns over misleading advertising, especially through the PayByPhone app.
“This is something that happens far too much in different apps and we must ensure people do not unknowingly sign up for recurring payments.
“This is especially important for apps related to our public services.
“In response, I have written to St Albans council to alert them over concerns with PayByPhone and misleading advertising. I have also written to PayByPhone about their advertising policy and have pushed the Government to take action on misleading advertising. We must ensure people can trust what they’re paying for and what they’re signing up for.”
SADC lead for parking, public realm committee chair Cllr Helen Campbell, has already taken swift action.
She explained: “We appreciate concerns raised over advertising on the PayByPhone app.
“We will be asking officers to explore with them whether this could be looked at.
“We appreciate that some individuals may find it confusing and if we receive any further reports of concerns, we won’t hesitate to make representations to the company.
“We know it’s a fairly common strategy for most operators of phone-based payment systems, as part of their business model, to have additional features that may pop up from time to time. The system is controlled, and any income received from these add-ons retained, by the PayByPhone operator.
“This is a completely optional product for the motorist and, thankfully, they can decline it and click ‘not now’. The operator has recently enlarged the ‘not now’ button to make it easier for users to decline the product and after three sessions and declines, the pop up won’t appear for a length of time to the user.
“PayByPhone have made it clear that anyone who mistakenly signs up for something they didn’t want to sign up to will be refunded by their customer service team. Because we know that not everyone wants to use the app to pay for their parking, SADC introduced a choice of methods including at PayPoint outlets located close to the parking provision.”
