The pain of discovering a parking fine on your windshield just five minutes after your ticket has expired may be coming to an end.
The Berejiklian Government announced a 10-minute "saving grace" period as part of a "fairer and more common sense" approach to parking fines, from January 31, 2019.
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perottet said local councils across the state were reliant on parking fines as a revenue-raising strategy.
He said he would be writing to every council, advising them to reduce parking fines, first flagged by the State Government in June, and to prepare for potential impacts to their budget.
"This is a common sense approach which means people won't get a fine for being five minutes late, have their day ruined, and have the weekly budget compromised," Mr Perottet said.
"We are hopeful this will also reduce the stress and pressure on parking inspectors as it will give some leniency in the issuing of fines.
"Councils need to stop using parking fines as an excuse to get a sugar hit and look at ways they can save ratepayers' money rather than hit them in the hip pocket."
The grace period would only apply to drivers who have paid for a physical ticket or coupon with at least one hour of parking.
Meters that don't dispense tickets, such as pay-and-go or multi-space parking meters, and spaces in private car parks are not eligible for the grace period.
Prescribed parking control signs such as in bus lanes or loading zones will also be excluded to avoid impacts on congestion and safety.
In July this year, the penalties for parking violations were reduced from about $110 to $80 in areas the State Government polices, such as Sydney Olympic and Parramatta Park.
The NSW Treasurer said local councils would be able to apply the same reductions and could opt-in to the regulation changes as early as New Year's Day.
