Cars blocking your garage or the sidewalk, informal parking attendants and towing in Peru: what the law says

Where parking is banned

The rule is in Peru’s national traffic regulation, the Reglamento Nacional de Tránsito, article 215. It lists the places where “está prohibido que los conductores estacionen los vehículos que conducen” (drivers are prohibited from parking). Three of them matter most to a resident:

“b) Sobre las aceras, pasos peatonales y rampas destinadas a la circulación de personas minusválidas; […] g) Frente a entradas de garajes y de estacionamientos públicos o a la salida de una vía privada; […] s) En cualquier lugar que afecte la seguridad, visibilidad o fluidez del tránsito o impida observar la señalización.”

(On sidewalks, pedestrian crossings and wheelchair ramps; in front of garage and public parking entrances or the exit of a private road; anywhere that affects traffic safety, visibility or flow or blocks the view of signs.)

“Acera” means sidewalk. Subsection g) protects your garage entrance: the car does not have to touch the gate. Parking in front of it is enough.

Trucks and large vehicles

Article 216 is stricter with large vehicles:

“Sólo está permitido el estacionamiento en vías públicas de zona urbana, de vehículos de la clasificación ómnibus, microbús, casa rodante, camión, remolque, semirremolque, plataforma, tanque, tracto camión, trailer, volquete o furgón, en los lugares que habilite para tal fin la Autoridad competente, mediante la señalización pertinente.”

(Buses, minibuses, motor homes, trucks, trailers, tankers, tractor units, dump trucks and vans may park on urban public roads only where the competent authority has marked a place for them with signs.)

So a truck or bus cannot just stay on any city street. Only where the authority allows it with signs.

The authority can close a street to parking

Article 239 says: “La Autoridad competente, cuando la situación lo justifique, puede prohibir o restringir la circulación o estacionamiento de vehículos en determinadas vías públicas o áreas urbanas.” (When justified, the competent authority can ban or restrict traffic or parking on certain streets or urban areas.) Ley 27972, the Municipalities Law, gives the provincial municipality the job to “normar, regular, organizar y mantener los sistemas de señalización y semáforos y regular el tránsito urbano de peatones y vehículos” (regulate signs, traffic lights and urban traffic; article 81, 1.3). If your street needs a no-parking sign, you can ask for one in writing.

Who acts: the authority, not the neighbor

Article 81, 2.1, of Ley 27972 gives the provincial municipality the job to “controlar, con el apoyo de la Policía Nacional, el cumplimiento de las normas de tránsito” (enforce traffic rules with the support of the national police). So when a car blocks you, the people to call are the Policía Nacional or your municipality.

Do not have the car towed yourself. Article 300 of the regulation says:

“La autoridad competente no puede hacer uso de medidas preventivas en situaciones no contempladas expresamente en el presente Reglamento, bajo responsabilidad.”

(The competent authority may not use preventive measures in situations the regulation does not expressly provide for, and is liable if it does.)

If even the authority cannot use a measure outside the listed cases, a private person has no such power either. No norm we read lets a neighbor hire a tow truck to take someone else’s car.

When a car can be towed

Towing is “remoción del vehículo” (vehicle removal), one of the preventive measures in article 299. Subsection 3, as worded in 2014, says:

“3) Remoción del vehículo. - Es el acto mediante el cual un vehículo será retirado de su ubicación en caso constituya un peligro o un obstáculo para el tránsito y la seguridad pública. Se ejecuta por la comisión de una infracción sobre la que expresamente recaiga esta medida en el Cuadro de Tipificación, Sanciones y Medidas Preventivas aplicables a las Infracciones al Tránsito Terrestre.”

(Removal means taking a vehicle away when it is a danger or an obstacle to traffic and public safety. It applies when the offense committed expressly carries this measure in the official offense table.)

This means two things:

• Not every badly parked car gets towed. Only if the specific offense carries removal in the offense table. This page did not review that table.
• If the driver isn’t there, the car goes to the impound lot. The same subsection says: “En caso que el conductor se niegue o no se encuentre presente al momento de la intervención, el vehículo será internado en el depósito vehicular correspondiente.” (If the driver refuses or is not present, the vehicle is taken to the impound lot.) The transfer is “a cuenta del propietario” (at the owner’s expense).

What the owner pays to get the car back, and when it is declared abandoned, is covered in impounded car in Peru.

Abandoned or broken-down cars

There is a separate rule for the car that has sat outside your house for weeks. Article 211 says:

“Los vehículos descompuestos por falla mecánica o accidente o abandonados en la vía pública, serán removidos utilizando el servicio de grúa, debiendo el conductor o propietario del vehículo cubrir los gastos de traslado.”

(Vehicles broken down by mechanical failure or accident, or abandoned on the public road, will be removed by tow truck, with the driver or owner paying the transfer costs.)

“Attendants” who charge to park

It is common for someone to ask for money to “look after” your car or to let you park on a street. Here is what the norms we read say.

The street does not belong to anyone in particular. The last paragraph of article 56 of Ley 27972 says: “Las vías y áreas públicas, con subsuelo y aires son bienes de dominio y uso público.” (Public roads and areas are property for public use.)

Charging for street parking is set up as a municipal fee. Article 68 of the Municipal Taxation Law says municipalities may impose:

“d) Tasas por estacionamiento de vehículos: son las tasas que debe pagar todo aquel que estacione su vehículo en zonas comerciales de alta circulación, conforme lo determine la Municipalidad del Distrito correspondiente, con los límites que determine la Municipalidad Provincial respectiva y en el marco de las regulaciones sobre tránsito que dicte la autoridad competente del Gobierno Central.”

(Parking fees: paid by anyone who parks in busy commercial areas, as set by the district municipality, within the limits set by the provincial municipality and national traffic rules.)

Our reading: a legitimate charge for parking on a public street is a fee set by the district municipality. We found nothing in these norms that lets a private person charge on their own. Some municipalities run paid street parking with their own staff or systems; that is in their ordinances, and we did not review any. If someone charges you, ask your municipality whether that area has a parking fee and who is authorized to collect it.

This page does not say whether the attendant commits an administrative offense or a crime: we did not review ordinances or criminal law on that.

How to report

For problems that repeat (cars on the sidewalk every day, a truck that never moves, an abandoned car, someone charging to park), the route is a written complaint to the municipality. Article 118 of Ley 27972 says:

“Los vecinos tienen el derecho de formular denuncias por escrito sobre infracciones, individual o colectivamente, y la autoridad municipal tiene la obligación de dar respuesta en la misma forma en un plazo no mayor de 30 (treinta) días hábiles, bajo responsabilidad directa del funcionario, regidor o alcalde, según sea el caso, y a imponer las sanciones correspondientes o, en caso pertinente, a declarar de manera fundamentada la improcedencia de dicha denuncia.”

(Residents may report violations in writing, alone or together; the municipality must answer in writing within 30 working days at most, and either sanction or explain with reasons why it rejects the complaint.)

Attach your photos and keep the stamped copy. If what blocks the sidewalk is tables, awnings or goods rather than a car, see tables, awnings and goods on the sidewalk.

What this page does not cover

We did not review the offense table (Cuadro de Tipificación, Sanciones y Medidas Preventivas), so we give no offense codes, fine amounts or list of offenses that carry towing. We did not review any municipal ordinance on parking, paid street parking or attendants, or the procedures of Lima’s SAT or any other municipality. We did not check what traffic powers the municipal security service (serenazgo) has. We do not cover paid private parking lots: for that, see theft or damage in private parking lots. If you got a ticket for parking, see traffic tickets.