Dundee City Council is to replace hardware in its network of parking meters to fix a fault that stops them from accepting card payments.
The council paid £245,000 in 2013 for 110 parking meters in the city centre that allow motorist to pay their fees by debit or credit card.
However, the system has only worked intermittently, with many drivers faced with “network error” messages when they tried to pay by card.
The fault has led to criticism from motorists who say they do not always have change available to pay the meters.
Linda Arnot, owner of the Bears and Buddies Workshop on Union Street, said: “It puts off a lot of customers when the machines don’t work.
“When the machines are playing up, people have to park elsewhere, often in the Overgate, and don’t come back here, so it really affects our business.”
Grant Avery, owner of Avery & Co, a restaurant on South Tay Street, said: “I would say that 50% of the time the card facility in the parking machines near us doesn’t work, which can be very frustrating.
“Just the other day we had a customer come in looking for change because of it and he was absolutely soaked to the bone because he had been trying for so long to get it to work.”
A Dundee City Council spokeswoman apologised for the situation.
She said: “We are aware of a network coverage issue and we will be installing new network cards at the end of the month.
“We could like to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused. Alternative methods of payment are available at parking meters.”