Driver wrongly fined twice by AI-powered parking cameras takes fight to Commerce Commission

Friday, 8 May 2026

A man wrongly fined twice by a parking firm says he complained to the Commerce Commission to prevent more “innocent” people being “taken advantage” of.

Keith Miller lodged the complaint against Smart Compliance Management in January, over the parking firm’s use of AI-powered cameras, known as ANPR technology.

The complaint is now being looked at as part of the commission’s wider, ongoing investigation into parking operators and whether they breach the Fair Trading Act.

Of the 250 parking grievances the commission received in the past six months, 17 cited ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) or similar technology as the problem.

Miller told Stuff he believed the ANPR system used by Smart Compliance had “critical flaws that means they are catching too many innocent people”.

“So I decided to hold them to the fire a little bit.”

Miller was first issued an infringement notice in December after visiting New World in Miramar, Wellington. He was issued a second notice in January after visiting the same store.

Both letters from Smart Compliance said the former Wētā VFX supervisor had parked in the supermarket’s car park for several hours, in breach of its rules.

However the firm provided no photographic evidence. Instead, the letters showed one image of Miller’s car arriving in the car park and another of it leaving.

Convinced Smart Compliance’s ANPR cameras had captured his car on two separate trips to the supermarket but counted it as a single visit, Miller decided to do some digging.

By checking receipts and home camera footage, he found he was right. One trip was made by his wife, and another, hours later, by him.

“They [Smart Compliance] were claiming we were there in the car park for two or three hours, but the reality was, we were there for two 15-minute trips,” he said.

When Miller sent the evidence to Smart Compliance, the firm waived both fines “almost immediately”, he said.

After posting about his ordeal on social media, he said he found many other people had also been wrongly fined, so he decided to make a formal complaint to the Commerce Commission.

“I don't have any problems with the technology, if it worked. The problem is the technology, as it's currently implemented, is flawed,” he said.

Smart Compliance Management did not answer specific questions about Miller’s case or the Commerce Commission investigation.

However, in a statement it confirmed its ANPR technology captured images of vehicles entering and exiting a monitored site to “calculate the total duration” of stay.

It said breach notices were “issued manually” by compliance officers who assessed “available evidence” including entry and exit imagery.

“Each appeal is individually reviewed by trained appeals assessors who consider the site rules, the specific circumstances of the case, and apply a fair and common-sense approach throughout the assessment process,” the statement read.

Foodstuffs, which owns New World, said Smart Compliance had been operating at its Miramar store for around two years to ensure parking space for customers.

But it said the firm was not there to “unfairly penalise” people who were shopping at the store.

“At the time these notices were issued, the store was aware of some issues affecting customers who made more than one visit to the store on the same day,” it said.

“This was raised with the parking provider, and since then, the store has not been made aware of any similar situations occurring.”

It said it was “pleased” both Miller’s fines were cancelled once full information was provided.

“We understand the process would have been frustrating, and we encourage any customer with concerns to speak directly with the store.”

Last month, Smart Compliance Management was found to have fined a Wellington woman for parking in a car park she never used.

Bridget Murdoch and her partner were driving to town in November when a brief stop in the suburb of Brooklyn resulted in an $85 infringement fee.

The pair had parked legally by the Penthouse Cinema, however the fine they received said they had parked illegally in a nearby parking lot.

The same ANPR technology was used to capture her vehicle entering and exiting the car park, however no evidence was provided to show it was parked there.

In reality, Murdoch had used the lot to make a U-turn twice. Her fine was dropped after Stuff asked questions about the case.