Maintenance of the "Parking Complaint" APP

We will ensure that the "Parking Complaint" app is always operational, an app that allows citizens to report illegally parked vehicles to the authorities, under point 5 of article 170 of the Highway Code.

I have received numerous emails recently requesting clarification regarding the app's maintenance, as it apparently hasn't been working on the latest Android versions.

APP: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.form.parking.violation...

It has been a great pleasure to develop this app, which, in my opinion, has provided an immense public service. I have even been contacted by police officers who claim to use it, and for that reason, I followed their suggestions in configuring my personal data. As of November 20, 2025, 66,147 complaints have been registered since the app's creation.

However, it was also a very thankless project. After hundreds of hours dedicated to the project pro bono (time I could have eventually dedicated to my family or to programming, charging at least €40/hour), I received zero cents, had immense infrastructure costs (the database needs a server), and had many people hating me, insulting me, and calling me a "snitch promoter." Other more elegant, yet caustic, forms of criticism came, for example, from the President of the Board of Directors of the Portuguese Judges' Union. I was also accused by a commentator on Expresso, in a podcast, of promoting "snitch communist-fascistism."

• I never placed advertising because it's intrusive and generates crumbs (advertising only pays off on a large scale).
• It didn't seem right to me to charge for the app, because it's not enough that citizens already have to do the police's job, they should also have to pay for it?
• I don't store or process personal data, much less would I dare to make money from it.

Furthermore, all attempts to contact public authorities in order to obtain some type of funding (I contacted the Ministry of Internal Administration, and even had a meeting with the National Road Safety Authority) were a waste of my time and patience, and were completely unsuccessful.

I'm not complaining about this; I know perfectly well that all these projects are essentially based on the motivation of those who develop them, and it was a great pleasure to have developed this app. I'm just explaining why it's on hold, out of respect for everyone who has contacted me.

With your donation, I would have more time and money to dedicate to maintaining the app.

About the author

My name is João Pimentel Ferreira and I am the programmer who developed the Parking Complaint APP. I am an electrical and computer engineer from the Instituto Superior Técnico and I program for fun, leisure and public service.

I studied at Afonso Domingues Secondary School in the Marvila area and later graduated in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico, having done my final year project at the Lisbon Metro. I have developed several software applications for the public domain, I am an avid editor on Wikipedia, and I also founded a mathematics forum that provides free clarification of mathematical doubts at the secondary and higher education levels. I have published several books of poetry and prose, as literary writing is a passion of mine. I was the director of Diferencial, the IST student newspaper. I have been part of several non-profit associations working towards improving urban mobility, such as Passeio Livre and MUBi. I also have a passion for photography and film, having published several photos online, both artistic and for georeferencing, and I also have a YouTube channel.

Budget and due dates

The amount will allow me to maintain the app for two years.

I'll start programming as soon as I receive the money.

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