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RAC has urged operators not to drivers rely on mobile apps for ParkingAs councils Consider removing traditional payment machines.
New research shows that almost three quarters of drivers who use mobile apps to pay for parking experience problems.
Commissioned by the RAC, the study of 1,709 UK drivers revealed most popular issue The mobile signal was bad.
Other issues flagged by users were the app not recognizing the car park and the app crashing.
Nearly half of the survey respondents said they would prefer to pay by card or contactless payment.
This comes as the government announced the launch of the National Parking Platform (NPP), which aims to enable drivers to pay for parking at all participating car parks using their preferred app.
RAC Said 10 local authorities, including the city, are using the service councils In Manchester, Liverpool and Coventry, more people are expected to sign up soon.
RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis welcomed the NPP but said drivers should be offered “at least two different ways to get paid”.
He said: “Mobile apps have an important and growing role when it comes to parking our vehicles, and the best apps make parking an easy task for many of us.
“But our data shows that there are still many drivers frustrated with using them – whether it’s a lack of mobile signal, problems registering a bank card, or the app crashing or behaving strangely.
“All parking operators, whether public or private, must offer at least two different ways for drivers to pay.
“No one should be forced to use a mobile app while parking if they don’t want to, especially those who struggle with technology or don’t have a smartphone.”
A young man in Manchester’s Deansgate North Q-park told the BBC he got the ticket after having trouble connecting to the parking app.
“I basically had to send in receipts to prove I had a parking permit,” he said.
Margie Rimes, 77, from York, told the broadcaster she is “terrified” about paying for parking on an app.
But he supported the NPP, saying: “I think if they had apps it would be better to standardize them.”
Mr Dennis encouraged drivers to make sure they download the latest version of every parking app they use, to reduce the chance of them not working properly.
Recent government figures show English councils made a surplus of £1.2bn from parking in the last financial year.
RAC commissioned research company Online95 to conduct the survey during June and July.