How to pay for parking

Introducing cashless parking

Since April 2021 it has been no longer possible to pay by cash for parking in Kingston, with the exception of Cattle Market, Bittoms and The Rose car parks, where cash payment has been retained.

Customers are able to pay through a mobile phone using the RingGo service or by card. Blue badge parking is still free, for up to three hours or as signposted.

There still remains a way to pay by cash by using the PayPoint services in convenience stores. Customers will need the location code of where the vehicle is parked, and allowance will be made for the journey on foot to reach the shop. There will be no requirement to return to your car to display a ticket. Find the nearest PayPoint store. 

There is not be a price difference between payment methods.

Pay online or by mobile phone

You can pay for parking in Kingston online, using the RingGo app on your mobile phone or by calling 020 7125 0044 (calls charged at local rate) and it will be charged to your credit or debit card.

To use the online payment service you need to register your vehicle and payment card details. You can do this by any of the following methods:

• registering on RingGo
• texting 81025 (You must already be registered to use this feature)
• calling 020 7125 0044 (calls charged at local rate)
• downloading the RingGo app onto your mobile phone (available on iPhone, Android and Windows)

If you use the RingGo “text to park” option, you pay for the text message at your agreed operator rate. You also pay a 10p charge for the text message (which you automatically receive) confirming the details of your parking session. Parking session confirmation messages and reminder texts (alerting you when your session is about to run out) cost 10p per message. The text message alert charges are optional extras and cost 10p per message including extending sessions. Further information around these charges can be found on RingGo.

What are the benefits?

• it's quick and easy to use - register once and you can use the service whenever you need to pay for parking wherever the RingGo service is offered. 
• you can choose to receive text messages when your parking is about to expire
• you can extend your parking without returning to your car (up to the maximum stay permitted)

Pay and display

• Before paying for parking, check you are in a pay-for-parking space; rather than a permit holder only or other restricted space.  
• Where pay and display parking is in operation you can park your car in a pay and display space, then buy a ticket from the payment machine or pay via RingGo.
• You buy a ticket to cover the amount of time you intend to stay. You then display the ticket in your car unless purchased via RingGo. If purchased at the machine, the ticket must be displayed clearly and the ticket can be used as a receipt.

Scams

• Please also note that we are aware of a scam operating on pay and display machines in the borough. Scammers are attaching devices to the card machine, which means that the card is not returned and money is taken from the account. If your card is not returned, please report this on 0330 135 8952 (Monday to Saturday: 7am-10pm, Sunday: 10.30am-10pm). Outside of these hours please call 101 and report the incident. 
• Parking Enforcement Officers and Machine Maintenance Staff working on behalf of RBK will never ask you to provide any personal bank details whilst using a ticket machine. If you are using a pay & display machine and are approached by anyone claiming to be an employee of RBK or NSL, asking you to provide your card or bank details, please do not hand these over.
• If you spot something on a pay and display machine that doesn’t look right or in the event you are asked to provide either of these details, please let us know by calling NSL, our parking service team, on 0330 135 8952 (Monday to Saturday: 7am-10pm, Sunday: 10.30am-10pm). Outside of these hours please call 101 and report the incident.
• Our Civil Enforcement Officers have been briefed to be vigilant and are working to establish if any further machines are affected and to remove devices. In the meantime, please don’t use machines that look in any way suspicious. You can still pay for parking in the borough via contactless payment or the RingGo app or website. 

Blue badge holders – disabled parking bays

If you have your blue badge with you (whether you are the driver or passenger) you can park for free in a blue badge space (also called a disabled parking space).

In pay on foot car parks, where you get a ticket upon entering the car park, you can either:

• press the 'i' button on the payment machine and show your blue badge
• or take your blue badge to the nearest Disabled Parking Validation point or pay station to validate your ticket