Once you got a ticket, you can go and pay it the same day and it will be over. If you pay the fine the next day, it doubles. Then it is the same for about 2 weeks and then doubles again. There is a maximum amount though so if you forgot to pay the ticket, you will not have to sell your car. But going off to a country trip leaving your car in the city can be costly because they might change the parking rules. It happened to me over a weekend in front of my apartment. I parked, came back on Monday and already had a ticket. When I went to their office to complain, they said that they have put up the sign on Sunday so I should have seen it on Monday. They actually put a no parking sign in front of my car while I was parking there.
When you get a fine, you often you find the person in charge writing the ticket just when you return to your car. This is not a coincidence, they want a tip. Essentially, this is a bribe because they are not providing a service. And it is not just one or two particularly greedy individuals. No, this seems to be part of the job description.
In any such entrepreneurial system you need to know the rules to live well. With these parking attendants you can strike a deal. You pay them for the whole day or month and they will leave your car alone. People who do this usually leave a phone number on their dashboard so the parking attendant can call them if there is a problem. If you are someone working in the city, e.g. a plumber or delivery person, you absolutely need such an arrangement or parking fines will make you bleed.
A much worse problem is parking in an illegal zone...
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