wa. de NRW
Better to take it seriously: If you park illegally in a private car park, you can be towed away. The “Parknotruf” app is designed to help with this. © Rust/Imago
“Parknotruf” is expanding to the Ruhr area, among other places. In seven other cities in North Rhine-Westphalia, people can now use an app to have illegal parkers towed away.
Hamm – In the so-called public space, the regulatory office takes care of towing illegal parkers. However, in the case of private parking spaces, the owner or lessee must ensure that the illegally blocked parking space becomes free again. And it was precisely for this case that a start-up developed an app a few years ago: “Parknotruf”. This has now started in seven other cities in North Rhine-Westphalia, especially in the Ruhr area.
Towing illegal parkers via app: Other cities in NRW receive the “Parknotruf”
The concept is quickly explained: Owners of private parking spaces have to register themselves and their parking space in the “Parknotruf” app. If a parking offender is towed away, this can be reported in the app. Two photos of the illegally parked vehicle are enough – and the towing process is triggered. For the person reporting the illegal parking, the matter is settled.
“Parknotruf” works with local towing companies. This is contacted by the message in the app and tows away. If the illegal parker returns to his vehicle, he will find a sticker with a QR code on site. It reads, “Towed? You can find your car here.” The wrong-way parker then uses the QR code to access the “Parknotruf” website. There he can enter his registration number and will be asked to pay. The illegal parker then receives the location of his vehicle.
Have illegal parkers towed away by app – this should work very easily with “Parknotruf”. © Parking emergency call
Towing app “Parknotruf” is expanding – new NRW cities included
The “Parknotruf” app was only launched in Münster in April. At that time there were already more than a dozen locations in North Rhine-Westphalia, including Bergisch Gladbach, Bielefeld, Bonn, Düren, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Erkrath, Krefeld, Cologne, Mönchengladbach, Remscheid and Wuppertal. The app is now available “all at once” in seven other NRW cities, says Nicole Frömming, founder and managing director, in an interview wa.de with.
EssenOberhausenBochumMülheimGelsenkirchenBottropVelbert (Mettmann district)
In which cities the start-up expands depends on several factors, explains Paul Struck, also founder and managing director of “Parknotruf”. The size of the city is crucial, as is the “strategic design of the company”. But there is another factor: demand.
Have illegal parkers towed away via app – costs are “customary for the location”
The “Parknotruf” team wants to acquit themselves of the accusation that illegal parkers would be charged far too high prices with such apps. The costs are “local,” says Struck. You can’t take towing rates as low as the authorities, for example, but you can use lower processing fees. “It comes down to the same thing in the end.”
The “Parknotruf” app is free for the user – so how is the concept financed? Paul Struck explains that the company receives a commission from the respective partner towing service for every transaction. “The business model only works in bulk,” admits the managing director. Incidentally, the person reporting the illegal parker does not receive any commission or the like. This was still done when the app was launched in Kiel, but the ten euro commission was abolished after enormous headwind.
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