Moroccan Drivers Clash with Controversial Car Guards over Parking Fees and Harassment

Citizens blame most of these car guards for setting the price of their service at their convenience, depending on the parking area, sometimes demanding payment in advance, and even showering their clients with insults and threats, reports Hespress, indicating that the overwhelmed citizens have taken to social media to denounce these illegal acts.

The reaction did not take long from the Casablanca City Council, where there are more guards than cars. Thus, Mohamed Bourrahim, vice-president of the Casablanca City Council, in charge of mobility and transport, urged any person victim of these incivilities to file a complaint on the Casablancacity.ma portal or on the Chikaya.ma portal.

The car guard associations are also asked, through a video, to help the council by denouncing the members of their circle who have this kind of attitude, thus discrediting the corporation. These calls are complemented by field checks carried out by the Casablanca City Council, which punishes the offending guards, in accordance with the law.

To be a car guard, one must meet the required conditions and obtain a nominative license issued by the municipalities of the Casablanca-Settat region. The license holder is subject to an annual fee paid to the municipality, with an obligation to respect the rate, set by a municipal tax order, namely 2 DH for bicycles, motorized or not, 3 DH for cars and 5 DH for trucks. A rate "that is not related to time. Whether in the evening or in the morning, [...] the guard is obliged to respect it," Bourrahim emphasizes, stressing that many guards have had their license revoked after an investigation by the administrative police confirming the complaint filed by a citizen.