City of Newcastle has shelved its digital resident parking permits after complaints about the new system.
The council started moving its 2500 residential parking permit holders to the digital system in June but has had to revert to paper labels.
The council would not elaborate on what the problems were with the system, but one resident told the Newcastle Herald that the website interface was "very clunky".
"They actually implemented a system less user-friendly than the original," she said.
"They just didn't work it out properly before they launched it."
The council had hoped the digital system would save residents time and effort, but the resident said the elderly found it particularly difficult to use the council's website.
"There was no app to shortcut to the website. You had to go to the council website, search in 'community' to find parking permits, then go to a login page from there," she said.
"Only then could you change the number plate. It took a long time and was difficult to navigate."
The council wrote to permit holders last week saying it had put the new system on hold.
"Customer feedback has prompted CN to re-examine the way the system was operating, and this has highlighted a number of areas which the city needed to improve," the letter said.
"Subsequently we have paused the transition to the digital system to ensure we achieve the aims of improved customer service and efficiencies that our customers expect."
The letter said the council would return to paper labels "for the foreseeable future".
A council spokesperson said the cost of the system had "not been significant as the digital permits used existing technology for parking meters and was not a factor in our decision to pause the system".
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