Starting in September, car owners in Prague will face substantially higher towing fees. The cost of towing a vehicle will double from 1900 CZK to 3800 CZK, and the daily storage fee at the towing lot will increase from 250 CZK to 500 CZK. This new regulation, proposed by Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda and his deputy Zdeněk Hřib, was approved by Prague city councilors. Despite the price hike, city officials argue that the new fees will still not cover all the associated costs.
The towing process in Prague is categorized into three types: complete towing to a lot, incomplete towing, where the driver intercepts the tow truck, and reverse towing, which involves towing the vehicle back to its original location. The fees for these services have also increased significantly. Incomplete tows will now cost 2500 CZK, up from 1250 CZK, and reverse tows will cost 7000 CZK, up from 3800 CZK. Additionally, the technical service of lifting a vehicle and returning it to its original position will now cost 2400 CZK, up from 1300 CZK.
Towing operations in Prague are primarily conducted in the public interest for two main reasons: when a driver ignores proper traffic signs, such as during street cleaning, or when a poorly parked vehicle obstructs traffic. According to councilor Zdeněk Kovářík, who represented Mayor Svoboda, the prices had not been adjusted for 11 years, and the city was heavily subsidizing these operations. “It is unfair for us to significantly fund this activity from our resources,” Kovářík explained.
The counselor also noted that inflation has increased, and a systematic approach is required to address this issue. To avoid subsidizing the towing services, the city calculated that the fee for a complete tow should be nearly 5000 CZK and for a reverse tow, nearly 10,000 CZK. The districts of Prague 3 and 7 advocated this higher pricing. However, according to Mayor Jan Čižinský of Prague 7, the district would not have sufficient funds to manage towing operations independently at lower prices.
In a unanimous decision, the city council increased the original proposal from the Towing Services Administration, which had suggested a flat rate of 3000 CZK for a complete tow, to 3800 CZK. The Towing Services Administration has been tasked with more than doubling the number of tows in Prague. In 2022, over 12,000 tows were conducted; the new goal is 25,000 tows annually.
“We want to increase the number of tows to levels seen in the past. The Towing Services Administration must find new spaces for this increase,” Kovářík stated. He emphasized that more towing should occur not only in the city center but also in the outskirts of Prague. However, the availability of towing lots remains a weak point.