Parliament's transport committee has backed, on first reading, changes to the Road Traffic Act that bring in a "digital clamp" for drivers who don't pay for parking. Sixteen MPs voted for the changes, four voted against, and two abstained.
Under the change, a driver who doesn't pay for parking in a paid zone loses the right to use such zones again until they settle the bill. The car itself won't be physically blocked and can keep driving as normal, but it will be locked out of paid parking zones electronically.
MPs Bozhidar Bozhanov and Chilo Popov filed the bill on September 16, 2026. They say the "digital clamp" is a tech-based stand-in for the physical wheel clamp now used on cars whose drivers don't pay.
The ban lifts once the owner pays not just the parking fee owed, but also a charge covering the cost of using the clamp, as set out in the law.
The MPs say the new system will catch more offenders, since officers won't need to fit and remove a physical clamp on every car. They expect this to speed up how fast officials can act and to boost how much of the money owed actually gets collected.
The bill's explanatory notes say the aim is to cut down on drivers who repeatedly skip paying and to get more people to follow the paid-parking rules.
The "digital clamp" won't stop a car from driving on the streets — it will only block the owner from using paid parking zones again until they pay what they owe.
The MPs say this builds a more flexible way to enforce the rules, one that fits with how digital parking systems in towns and cities are developing.