Question:
I parked my car for somewhere between 4-8 hours in Jerusalem, without paying for parking.
This was somewhat due to the parking meters being inaccessible.
I emailed the municipality about paying them, but didn't hear back.
Is the proper thing for me to do to use someone's Pango app to just arbitrarily pay the city 4-8 hours worth of parking, out of concern for gezel rabbim?
Are there reasons to believe that this is extreme behavior on my part and that this is not a recommended course of action, due to "puk v'chazi" considerations (e.g. cash market people don't take VAT and this does not seem to be a "gezel rabbim" concern")
Answer:
Hello,
There is controversy among the poskim, and it seems you don’t have to pay them. This is because they don’t own the parking spots, and charging is simply a way to keep things running smoothly. We can see this from how people behave, such as not paying the municipality for parking if they encounter a meter that doesn’t work, and they don’t consider it gezel horabim.
Best wishes
