A woman who parked at a private carpark at the Chiap Chuan Building in River Valley got wheel-clamped and charged a release fee of S$400 for "unauthorised parking".

The 29-year-old driver, surnamed Ong, told Mothership that "it felt like a scam" as "her wheel had only jutted centimetres from the parking line".

Ong paid the release fee on the day of the incident, May 24, but has since appealed to the facilities management to have it waived.

Wheel-clamped for illegal parking

Ong told Mothership that she was rushing for a Pilates class at Chiap Chuan Building on May 24 over lunch.

As she was running late, she parked in an available parallel parking lot behind the building at around 12:15pm, and quickly went up for her class.

It was her second time parking at the building.

However, when she came back an hour later, her vehicle had been wheel-clamped.

Ong was also issued a notice indicating that this was for "illegal parking within the estate".

Ong said that she hadn't parked in a yellow or red (season parking) lot and felt she wasn't obstructing other road users, so she was shocked to be issued with the penalty.

Impasse with management office, paid release fee

Ong tried to clarify the matter with the guards, who asked her to approach the management office instead.

Ong claimed a manager there told her that "one of her back wheels had mounted the kerb" and she parked "with her back wheel 2cm out of the lot", which led to the decision to clamp her wheel.

Ong apologised for parking out of the lot and tried reasoning that her vehicle was not obstructing others, but the manager declined to release her vehicle.

After the two reached an impasse on the matter, Ong called the police for assistance.

However, after interviewing both parties, police told her they weren't able to take the case further as it was "a private matter".

A police officer and another management staff also advised her to pay the S$400 release fee first and file an appeal later, Ong said.

So she paid the fee.

No decision on appeal a month later

Later that day, Ong sent an appeal to SRE Global, which manages Chiap Chuan Building, to request for the release fee to be waived.

Ong was issued an invoice by the managing agent and informed in an email that her appeal would be discussed at a council meeting on Jun. 11.

She also reached out to her Member of Parliament (MP), who said he spoke personally to the managing agent and heard that the management corporation was "reviewing the appeal".

On Jun. 28, the agent replied to her that the council had deliberated her case at the meeting but "did not reach a consensus and decision" regarding her appeal.

"The council will be meeting again next week and we will update you on their final decision," he wrote.

"Daylight extortion"

Ultimately, Ong said that she was upset the management has "not given her a direct response" on why her offence constitutes "unauthorised and illegal parking".

Ong noted that a sign at the premises indicated the wheel-clamp release fee was S$400.

But she questioned why it was so exorbitant.

Ong said the highest she has seen elsewhere is a S$300 release fee at Marina Bay Sands, and opined that it seems like private property owners "can set whatever price they want".

"I think that's fine if someone is actually obstructing their business or parking in a way that's taking up two lots and affecting other users of the carpark," she qualified.

"But at this point, it's like daylight extortion," she added.

When Ong shared her complaint about the wheel-clamping with the Pilates studio, they compensated her with three free classes.

"Which is super nice, even though this is not their fault," she said.

Ong further claimed that a staff at the studio told her that she "sees the guards wheel-clamp people here often".

SRE Global response

In response to Mothership's enquiries, an SRE Global spokesperson explained that Ong's vehicle had been wheel-clamped because "one wheel of the vehicle had mounted the kerb and the drain gratings, which were recently painted".

The spokesperson also explained that the wheel-clamp release fee had been incrementally increased to the current S$400 "to address the issue of indiscriminate parking which had obstructed delivery and emergency vehicles in the past".

"Based on the above facts, it seems that not all relevant details were provided to the Member of Parliament or the media," the spokesperson said.

"The MCST Management Council will provide its response to Ms. Ong and the Member of Parliament in due course".

Top image courtesy of Ong