Anyone who parked their car yesterday in any of the SER (Regulated Parking Service) zones in the city may have been surprised to see the price to be paid: double the usual price. The increase was not due to any error, but to the application of a 100% surcharge on the base rate as a result of the high levels of pollution registered last Wednesday, January 15.
As explained in the Madrid City Council’s web portal, the SER rate is dynamic and, therefore, both reductions and surcharges can be applied on the base price depending on different factors.
These factors have to do with two variables, namely: the vehicle’s environmental label and pollution levels.
Base rate, reductions and surcharges for SER zones
Except for vehicles exempt from payment -such as two- and three-wheelers or those classified as ‘0 Emissions’ by the DGT, among others- the rest are subject to the Regulated Parking Service (SER) and, therefore, to pay its fees.
The base rate differentiates between blue parking spaces, which are priced at €0.05 for a minimum parking period of up to 5 minutes, and green parking spaces, which are priced at €0.15 for the same period of time. The complete table of prices can be consulted at this link.
Thereafter, prices vary as follows:
Depending on the vehicle classification
- 100% reduction for 0 Emission vehicles, 75% reduction for ECO cars and 10% reduction for C label cars.
- Surcharge of 20% for B label cars.
According to pollution levels
Surcharges are applied in SER zones for pollution when the average nitrogen dioxide concentration levels of the urban background stations of the Madrid City Council’s Air Quality Monitoring Network or the municipal air pollution prediction system exceed:
- Sixty micrograms per cubic meter (section I): surcharge of 60% of the rate.
- Seventy micrograms per cubic meter (section II): 100% surcharge of the tariff.
This surcharge is applied the day after these pollution levels are registered, between 00h and 23h.
How to know when the surcharge is applied in the SER zones?
The notices are published during the early morning before the start of the SER schedule in:
- Parking meters and mobile applications enabled to obtain tickets.
- The content on SER rates of the municipal portal madrid.es.
- Parking content on the Madrid City Council’s transparency portal.