© dpa
Parking in Berlin will soon become more expensive, but shift workers will find it easier to get parking fees waived.
The senate departments have agreed that proof of alternating shift allowance will suffice to waive parking fees, as they announced on Thursday (May 12, 2022).
Sewhort-term parking fees are to rise by one euro per hour across Berlin. The new parking fee ordinance is expected to come into force in the third quarter of this year. It still has to be passed in the Senate. The increase in parking fees was already decided in 2019 as part of the clean air plan.
The topic had already caused a lot of discussion beforehand. The SPD in particular had called for a solution for shift workers, such as police officers and firefighters. Now, Senator for Urban Mobility Bettina Jarasch (Green Party) and Senator for the Interior Iris Spranger (SPD) have agreed to link the waiver of parking fees to the alternating shift allowance or the hardship allowance.
In the future, those who can provide proof of these allowances will be able to apply at the relevant district office for a blanket exemption from fees for a specific parking zone at their place of work. Employees of the police, fire department, public order offices and state-owned hospital operating companies would benefit from the arrangement, according to the two Senate administrations. "For all other shift workers, the option remains, as before, to submit an individual application for a parking fee waiver with proof of their own work hours."