We had that in France for a long time, but it seems it's no longer used in most places, although it still exists ("disque de stationnement": parking disc, see https://www.securite-routiere.gouv.fr/actualites/nouveau-dis... which says it's a European thing?)

In my town (small town near Paris), in some places downtown we have machines that scan the licence plates; first 30 minutes are free, and if you stay longer you get a ticket; everything is automated and doesn't involve anyone for enforcement.

And elsewhere in France there are parking machines where you pay using a credit/debit card and type in your licence plate, and there are patrol cars that scan all the plates and match them to those in the database with date/time, and if they have overstayed the ticket is sent automatically.