An agent put a boot on my car in Casablanca and never came back to remove it. That evening, I tried everything and finally managed to take it off. That day, I decided to design a key for it. It was born out of an act of revenge, then evolved into a full-fledged product. That’s how the creator of Zero Sabot, who wishes to remain anonymous, summed up for TelQuel the beginnings of his initiative.
With the creation of Zero Sabot, he aims to solve a problem faced by many drivers who find a boot placed on their vehicle’s tire.
The Zero Sabot Facebook page, created in 2021, has more than 250,000 followers and 54,000 on Instagram. Every week, videos showing the removal of boots are posted there. These posts accumulate thousands of views and attract hundreds of comments, often from drivers expressing their frustration with this measure.
To support his initiative, the founder of Zero Sabot states on his Instagram page that he relies on Article 591 of the Penal Code, which punishes obstruction of traffic, considered under the law as a legal violation subject to penalties. The sentences vary according to the severity of the acts and the intent of the perpetrator, providing for a prison term of five to ten years for anyone placing an object or using a means intended to obstruct vehicle traffic on a public road, with the intent to cause an accident or disrupt circulation.
In the event of obstruction, the arrest is carried out by the police, and the offender is brought before the court, which may impose a fine or a prison sentence. The penalties can be increased if the obstruction is accompanied by violence or threats.
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The founder recounts that the adventure began in a completely informal way, “like a bit of tinkering among friends.” Buoyed by the enthusiasm of drivers for the initiative, his activity truly took shape at the end of 2020, with the design of a first key model completed in 2021. The concept is simple. Through an order placed via WhatsApp, the team delivers a key that allows the removal of a parking boot in just a few minutes. Without a fixed location, they operate mainly in Casablanca and Rabat, but deliver throughout Morocco.
In Casablanca, there are 16 different types of boots. For around 300 dirhams, Zero Sabot provides a set of three keys capable of unlocking all these models. In Rabat, the situation is simpler: only one type of boot is used, and a single key, sold for 170 dirhams, can open it.
In Casablanca and Rabat, the small group Zero Sabot has made a name for itself by offering a tool capable of removing parking boots in just a few minutes. This device, used by subcontracted companies in several Moroccan cities to immobilize vehicles in… pic.twitter.com/tM9ZeZ844p
— TelQuel (@TelQuelOfficiel) August 19, 2025
A legal loophole that fuels the conflict
The legality of placing boots on vehicles in Morocco has long been debated, as the Highway Code does not explicitly authorize this practice by private companies. According to several legal experts, only the municipal administrative police can exercise this type of coercion, and this authority cannot be delegated to private contractors such as the local development companies (SDL) present in various municipalities, like Casa Baïa in Casablanca.
In April 2019, the administrative court of Rabat ordered the company Somagec Parkings, a subcontractor in Tangier, to compensate four drivers for illegal immobilization. The damages ranged from 20,000 to 50,000 dirhams, the latter amount awarded to a complainant whose professional activity had been directly affected. The ruling was based on the freedom of movement guaranteed by the Constitution and on a report by the Court of Auditors denouncing the collection of fines without legal foundation.
With this ruling, the administrative court permanently banned the use of parking boots for vehicles in Tangier.
Despite this episode, boots remain in use in several Moroccan cities. Municipalities and subcontracted companies justify this measure by citing the need to regulate paid parking and to penalize violations. Opponents, however, see it as an infringement of property rights and freedom of movement, as well as a way to generate revenue rather than to improve traffic flow.
Written in French by Aymane Kadiri Alaoui, edited in English by Eric Nielson
