If you’re visiting Amsterdam from France, Poland, Hungary or Luxembourg, not paying at the parking meter in Amsterdam just got a whole lot more expensive and inconvenient as the city will now clamp cars from those countries without warning.
That’s because the four countries don’t have mutual agreements with the Netherlands to exchange driver license information, such as name and address, or to enforce tickets. Dutch officials say the avoidance of paying is so widespread they expect to clamp 10,000 cars a year.
Once the car is clamped, it will cost a €169 clamp fee, in addition to parking fines, and administrative costs that can bring the cost up to €250.
The city has agreements with many other countries allowing Amsterdam to send follow-up demands for parking tickets by mail. Vehicles from these countries will not get a clamp unless their drivers have racked up at least five parking tickets. These countries include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Image: Jirka23/Wikimedia Commons
