YEREVAN, Armenia – Lawyer Vahe Grigoryan announced that citizens can legally demand refunds from Yerevan City Hall for illegally collected ‘red line’ parking fees for 2024-2025. This follows a ruling by the Administrative Court of Appeal, which upheld that the fee increase for 2024 was unlawful.
City Hall’s Persistent Claims Debunked by Courts
Throughout 2024 and 2025, various individuals, lawyers, and the “Mother Armenia” political force repeatedly warned that the increase in ‘red line’ tariffs was clearly unlawful. Despite these warnings, City Hall, with the same persistence as its announcements about the construction of the Ajapnyak metro, continued to insist that the ‘red line’ price hike was entirely legal.
However, the Administrative Court of Appeal has now confirmed that the 2024 ‘red line’ fee increase was indeed unlawful. “The court, through its non-appealable judicial acts, proved that they made a mistake and illegally collected large sums of money from citizens of the Republic of Armenia,” Grigoryan stated in an interview with Pastinfo.
City Hall’s New Strategy: Minimum Threshold and Legal Loophole
Despite the court’s decision, Grigoryan believes that City Hall will not cease collecting fees at the increased rate. He highlighted that previously, the fee amount was set by law, and City Hall had opted for an annual fee of 160,000 drams.
However, realizing their insufficient legal and analytical capabilities to properly justify and substantiate their normative legal acts, and facing numerous defeats in court, they pursued a different path. They introduced amendments to the law, setting the fee between a minimum of 300,000 and a maximum of 1 million drams.
“In cases where the administrative body chooses the minimum threshold, there is no longer a need for justification, because the minimum threshold has been chosen, and that is the best justification as the least strict measure. Consequently, citizens will now be charged higher amounts in this way,” Grigoryan explained.
He added that the court will not deal with such issues. “That is, going to court and saying that they have changed a new law has nothing to do with jurisprudence,” he noted.
Citizens Can Claim Refunds for 2024-2025
When asked if this means fee collection will continue and could even rise to at least 300,000 drams annually, the lawyer responded that, in his words, the current head of government insists that 700,000 citizens voted for them to collect more fees, and they will do so.
“I had to prove that the price increase was unlawful, and I have proven that twice. Now, citizens can apply to the court and demand the return of the amounts paid for 2024-2025. In my estimation, such an opportunity exists, while Yerevan City Hall once again insists that such an opportunity does not exist. We are currently preparing applications and future lawsuits, and we will apply to the court in the near future,” said Vahe Grigoryan.
This development provides a legal avenue for Yerevan residents to challenge the parking fees and potentially recover funds deemed illegally collected by the City Hall.
