Member for Greenslopes Joe Kelly said he was among several MPs who received complaints from local constituents about copping an unfair fake fine.

“People have been just doing a bit of shopping or going through a drive through restaurant and ended up with a threat to pay $88 or face a debt collector – it’s simply unacceptable,” he said.

“They came to me with countless examples of bad behaviour by these companies which I took straight to the Transport and Main Roads Minister, and he’s listened to their concerns and shut down this dodgy practice.”

As of Monday, February 25, the Palaszczuk Government will close a loophole that allows the release of vehicle registration information to private parking operators and their legal representatives.

“There are times when people overstay their welcome in some carparks and there should be a course of action for that but what we’ve been seeing is a rip-off of people just doing their shopping or grabbing a bite to eat,” Kelly said.

The existing regulations have allowed, in good faith, private parking operators to access registration information, including names and addresses, when it was considered to be the first step of litigation.

An early departmental review identified the potential misuse of information by private carpark operators, including the referral of unpaid demand notices to debt collectors.

Bailey said the review would follow similar action he took to stamp out predatory behaviour in the tow truck industry.

“We can’t have a situation where Queenslanders are being scared into a rip-off,” he said.

“The closure will be in place until we progress amendments later in 2023, which will include a through a consultation process with those impacted by the changes.”