Delhi government's plan: Rs. 1,000 parking fee for 10 hours
A committee of Delhi government and civic officials has formulated a new plan, under which parking a private car in popular areas of the capital such as Connaught Place (CP) could cost you Rs. 1,000 for a 10-hour workday. Notably, the plan comes at a time when there have been growing concerns over private vehicle use, due to the city's perpetually deteriorating air quality.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, the formula devised by the committee includes certain so-called "multipliers", that are aimed at discouraging parking on the road (and not in a parking lot); in areas that are congested, and for long durations.
The base parking fee (BPF) committee, led by the city's transport commissioner, has suggested a Rs. 10/hour base fee for four-wheeler vehicles and Rs. 5/hour fee for two-wheelers. The existing fee for the two categories is Rs. 20 and Rs. 10 respectively. However, the new proposed base fee shall be multiplied depending on four factors: parking spot, duration, location, and time of the day.
For example, the committee "recommended that the multiplication factor based on location of the parking may be varied from 1 to 3, which will be decided after consideration of the location of a particular area," read the report by BPF committee. Areas such as CP, Lajpat Nagar, and Karol Bagh, that receive heavy traffic, are likely to be in the most expensive bands.
To note, the BPF committee has also advised the civic agencies to put a curb on areas that have on-street parking (which leads to congestion), by charging twice the base fee. Separately, short-duration parking under the new rules will be the cheapest as only base fares shall be levied for under 15 minutes, as long as location multiplication factor doesn't exceed 2.
Importantly, the report in this matter has been submitted to the top monitoring committee, headed by Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, for approval as mandated under the Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Places Rules, 2019, which was notified on September 25. "No date for first meeting of the apex committee has been set yet but we will review the recommendations soon," Gahlot stated.
The experts have welcomed the panel's recommendations. According to Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy) at Center for Science and Environment, "One of main aims of having a parking policy is to reduce the demand for parking altogether and instead make people consider other options of travel like public transport. The panel has rightly proposed to disincentive on-street parking by making it expensive."
The move comes at a time when Delhi's air quality is worsening. On Wednesday, the overall air quality of Delhi plunged into "very poor" category. To note, the national capital has 3.3 million four-wheelers and 7.3 million two-wheelers, and nearly 500 new cars are added everyday. Moreover, unregulated stubble burning in the neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana is also responsible for Delhi's pollution.
