TJ-AL annuls municipal law that obliges stores not to charge customers for pa...

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A municipality that forces commercial establishments to stop charging parking fees on certain occasions unduly interferes with the economic activity of these companies, violating the constitutional principles of free enterprise and free competition.


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Association claimed that the municipality cannot legislate on Civil Law.
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With this understanding, the Plenum of the B2B Lead Alagoas Court of Justice unanimously declared the unconstitutionality of Maceió Municipal Law 6,621/2017, which required the granting of free parking in commercial establishments.

The rule obliges shopping centers, hypermarkets and other similar establishments that have charged parking to grant free parking in two situations: when the customer shows that they spent an amount equivalent to 10 times the fee to stop there and when the time spent in the place is less to 30 minutes.

The Brazilian Association of Shopping Centers (Abrasce), represented by the firm Lobo & Ibeas Advogados , filed a direct action for unconstitutionality against the law. According to the entity, the rule is formally unconstitutional, since the Union has exclusive competence to legislate on Civil Law.

Furthermore, Abrasce argued that the law violates the principles of free enterprise and free competition, as the municipality of Maceió interferes in the way private parking lots are operated. The Public Ministry of Alagoas endorsed the association's arguments in its statement.

The judges of the TJ-AL Plenary agreed with the entity's points and declared the unconstitutionality of Maceió Municipal Law 6,621/2017.



Lawyer Sérgio Vieira Miranda da Silva , a partner at Lobo & Ibeas who worked on the case, highlighted that the Plenary of the Federal Supreme Court, on several occasions, annulled municipal and state laws that regulate the way in which charges are charged for the use of private parking lots. Silva also highlighted that this understanding has been applied by other courts of Justice, such as those in São Paulo and Amazonas.