If you chance it and don't pay for parking or overstay your ticket, it's more likely than ever that you'll be slapped with a fine.

Canberrans forked out an extra $3.3 million in parking fines last financial year, with more than a quarter of those infringements being issued thanks to parking patrol vans.

Introduced in 2017, the patrol vans — which are equipped with infrared cameras to scan licence plates — can track how long cars have been in parking zones.

They also have the ability to track stolen or unregistered vehicles and dangerous drivers.

This technology has seen revenue from the patrol vans alone jump from $1.6 million to more than $4 million in 12 months.

Overall, the territory saw a 26 per cent increase in revenue from parking infringements over the 12 months, bringing in more than $16 million for the ACT Government.

Fines surround Parliamentary triangle

Regular infringements still make up the majority of park fine revenue. ( ABC News: Michael Black )

The figures, from the Chief Minister's directorate, also revealed motorists in a number of inner-south suburbs were among the most likely to be fined.

The suburb most affected by infringements was Griffith, in Canberra's inner-south. The leafy district, which borders Manuka and Kingston, was responsible for 5,664 individual fines.

In second place, the government department-dense suburb of Barton recorded 4,181 fines.

Kathy, a grandmother who routinely does the school drop off and pick up at Telopea Park School in Barton, said she was constantly on the look out for the patrol vans.

"I'm very wary of the patrol car," she said.

"I came last Wednesday and parked in the pick up and drop [zone] and the patrol van passed me four times and I thought 'OK the moment I leave this car I'm done for'."

Macquarie, located in Belconnen, Kingston in the south, and the inner-city cafe-strewn Braddon, rounded out the top five.

Fines are 'voluntary': Chief Minister

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the only solution was for Canberrans to obey the rules, describing parking fines as "voluntary".

"It's only a revenue raising venture if people park illegally, and a regular feature of feedback to government is wanting government to do more about cracking down on illegal parking," Mr Barr said.

"People perhaps could pay a little more attention to parking legally and they would avoid any parking fines at all."

He also said the increase in fines showed the government was responding to demand for a more vigilant approach to parking offences.

"A regular feature of feedback to government is wanting government to do more about cracking down on illegal parking," he said.

"So I recognise that people who get a fine are not particularly happy about it but on the other hand, there are a lot of people who do the right thing and just want the parking operations to be enforced.

"Technology is going to increasingly be part of enforcement, both parking laws and other laws more generally."