Dublin City Council's parking appeals officer upheld half of the unfair clamping claims rejected by clamping company Dublin Street Parking Services (DSPS).
In his third annual report for last year, the council's independent appeals officer Liam Keilthy found that 86 per cent of complaints made directly to DSPS were dismissed.
However, motorists who appealed these rulings to Mr Keilthy were successful in 51 per cent of cases.
Those whose appeals were upheld included a motorist who was told by a garda that it was okay to park in a loading bay and all foreign tourists who appealed.
The number of vehicles clamped, removed or relocated in the city increased by almost 7,000 last year, up from 50,679 to 57,569.
Motorists who feel they have been unfairly treated by the clampers must first appeal directly to DSPS. If these complaints are rejected, they can appeal to Mr Keilthy for a final adjudication. Just over 20 per cent of DSPS decisions were appealed last year.
Around 2,000 motorists made complaints to DSPS in 2006, the majority of which related to the display of a parking permit.
DSPS accepted fault in 13.6 per cent of cases. Just over 400 of those who felt DSPS had wrongly dismissed their cases appealed to Mr Keilthy. He upheld 51 per of these complaints, and ordered DSPS to issue full or partial refunds.
As with the initial complaints, the majority of appellants said they had bought a permit but for some reason it had not been seen by the clampers.
The second most common cause for complaint was poor signage, followed by allegations of error on behalf of the clampers. A smaller number made appeals on medical or compassionate cases.
However, some of the more unusual cases highlighted by Mr Keilthy included a complaint that the driver had parked in the same place for years, another that they assumed the taxi-rank markings must be wrong because they never saw taxis there before, and another that they only parked in a loading bay after being told by a garda that it was okay to do so.
Mr Keilthy said he would give a 50 per cent refund to a motorist given incorrect parking advice by a garda provided the garda was willing to confirm the advice.
He would give a full refund to foreign tourists unless they had parked in a "dangerous or totally inappropriate" place, such as a bus stop, and would also be inclined to give a full refund to a disabled permit holder even if their permit had expired.
"The last thing we should be doing is clamping a bona fide disabled motorist - the vast majority of them already carry a heavy burden."
He also cautioned declamping staff against making "unnecessary comments" to drivers, such as telling them that they would not have clamped the vehicle if they had been on duty.
He said DSPS had disciplined a member of staff for being rude to a customer.
