Riho Pihlakas visited the Mustika center in Tallinn in November 2024. There is three hours of free parking there. He stayed parked for 30 minutes longer and received a 55-euro fine. Pihlakas was angry because the parking should have cost only one euro.
Pihlakas began investigating the activities of Europark. Europark is Estonia's largest parking company. They have nearly 800 parking lots across Estonia. Approximately 25,000 fines are issued by them annually.
The company's manager, Karol Kovanen, says that few fines are issued. There is one fine per thousand cars. He says the company does everything according to the law.
Pihlakas did not pay the fine. The company sent him a reminder and demanded 65 euros. Of this amount, 10 euros were "owner search costs". In reality, such a query costs the company only 20 cents.
Pihlakas did not pay this either. Nine months later, he received a payment order for 180 euros from the court. Now he is fighting the company in court.
Others have also fought against Europark. For example, Pavel Gordijevski won in court, but the company withdrew the lawsuit before the verdict. This means others cannot see this decision.
Parking fines vary. In city streets, the fine is 30-40 euros, but in private parking lots up to 100 euros. The company earns about a million euros annually from fines.
Pihlakas created the website parkimistrahv.ee, where he shares information and advice. He has also started a petition to establish an upper limit for fines.
Kovanen says Pihlakas's actions are uninformed. He does not believe it will change anything. The company has already seen similar campaigns.