Leeds residents react as Leeds City Council ends partnership with parking payment app RingGo

The change has been brought into effect today (January 10) and many residents received the news via text yesterday, while others have found out through social media. Previous provider RingGo allowed people to pay for parking in council car parks – and payments will now be operated by PayByPhone instead.

Many residents have taken to social media to share their thoughts on the changes. @JonPertwee1919 on Twitter said: “That feeling you get when you park in a car park controlled by @RingGo_parking and the car park code, displayed on the RingGo sign, does not exist.”

Others have shared some of their concerns and thoughts on community Facebook group Leedsplace. Some people said they liked the previous app, while others found it difficult to use. One resident said: “It’s a shame because it’s so easy.”

The council’s new partnership is with ‘PayByPhone’ – who have spent much of the morning replying to tweets about the app not working for customers in Leeds.

PayByPhone said “parking payments via PayByPhone were set up for when chargeable hours started”, meaning residents were unable to use RingGo and PayByPhone for a few hours this morning despite the council saying it would be operating from midnight.

On Twitter, @DorothyGale1979 said: “It was a complete nightmare across Leeds today. Colleagues in other car parks were in the same situation. Also parking has gone up by £5. So will be parking in the NCP who are shockingly cheaper on a day rate through their app.”

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise for any inconvenience that customers faced yesterday trying to park. Minor issues that arose during the transition period have now been resolved, and signage has been updated across the city centre.

"We have transitioned to a new provider following the Ringgo contract expiring. PayByPhone was selected following a competitive tendering process and offers a wide range of features to make parking in Leeds convenient."

Find out more information about how to use PayByPhone via the council website: https://news.leeds.gov.uk/news/leeds-city-council-issues-statement-on-new-way-to-pay-for-parking-in-council-car-parks.