The Indian Express 23.08.2012
Coming soon: Flat rate for car parking across Delhi
Uniform parking rates across Delhi and higher charges for surface parking as against multi-level parking are some of the suggestions that have been cleared “in-principle” by all stakeholders at a meeting convened at the office of the Lieutenant Governor on August 16.
At present, civic agencies have no uniform rate at parking lots in the city.
“We have given in-principle approval to the suggestions that all agencies such as the municipal corporations, the Delhi Development Authority, the New Delhi Municipal Council and the Metro should have a common parking rate. Different rates lead to confusion and the parking mafia benefits from this. To discourage longer parking, the rates will be higher after the first hour. No parking will be allowed on pavements,” a government official said.
It was also decided that no green area should be used for parking. The suggestions will be implemented soon, except for those requiring clearance from the Delhi Cabinet.
Attempting to decongest the city’s roads, it was also agreed that the rate of surface parking would be higher than multi-level parking. “It will be based on peak, non-peak and number of hours in the different categories of land and colony,” an official said.
The parking rates would be based on the category of colonies as identified by the agencies for property tax and other purposes, the official said.
It has been suggested that one-time parking charges levied at the time of registration of cars by the Transport department should be done away with. These charges, which a person must pay during purchase of new cars, depend on the category of vehicles.
“It was felt that these charges hardly justify the cost of providing public parking and, therefore, should be scrapped. The Chief Secretary has assured us that this would be duly taken up with the chief minister,” the official said.
Extensive use of technology is also proposed to improve management of parking lots and to check the alleged harassment of customers by parking attendants.
