Chandigarh: BJP-led MC House greenlights parking fee hike with no bumps
In a discussion free of any roadblocks or opposition, the BJP-led House of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) on Wednesday breezily cleared a steep hike in parking charges across the city — a move that will pick speed only after the civic body implements its Smart Parking project with public-private partnership.
The proposal zipped through in the absence of councillors from opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who had already staged a walkout after accusing the BJP of burdening residents with back-to-back tax hikes — including the recent increase in property tax and electricity cess.
With no opposition in sight, the parking fee hike went through smoothly, landing another financial jolt on city residents who are also reeling under the UT-approved rise in collector rates.
Barely a month after scrapping its long-pending Smart Parking project, citing flawed tenders, MC brought a fresh proposal to the House. A committee has already finalised groundwork for a revised Request for Proposal (RFP), with the new parking rates included.
As per the plan, the first 15 minutes will be free across 87 parking lots of the city — a move aimed to encourage quick departure of short-stay visitors.
This will facilitate faster circulation of vehicles and optimum utilisation of parking space. Thereon, four-wheelers will be charged ₹20 for up to four hours of parking — a sharp increase from the existing ₹14 — while two-wheelers will pay ₹10 instead of ₹7.
A special rate of ₹85 for the first four hours has been proposed for the parking lots near Elante Mall, Fun Republic and Piccadily Square, making parking there most expensive in the city (see box for detailed rate chart).
In a significant first, MC has also proposed a mechanism for automatic parking fee hikes every four years, further burdening citizens in the long term. Meanwhile, electric vehicles (both two-wheelers and four-wheelers) have been promised free parking — until March 31, 2027. Post that, they too will be subjected to prevailing parking fees.
Parking in underground facilities has been incentivised by charging ₹5 less than the surface parking rates, across all slabs. Also, to encourage the use of digital payments, MC will charge ₹5 extra in case of cash payments. Interestingly, the new parking rates will apply uniformly across the city — irrespective of whether the parking lots are operated directly by the MC or leased out to private contractors via e-tendering.
As envisaged in the original plan, FASTag-enabled parking management system will remain a major feature of the Smart Parking project, allowing swift entry and exit through automatic payment.
For visitors' convenience, the new parking system will also include a mobile app for booking parking slots, separate parking for two-wheelers, proper demarcated parking slots, dynamic pricing and parking availability status, to be managed by a central control centre.
The increased parking rates, along with new Request for Proposal, will be sent to the UT administration for final approval.
Even if approved by UT, the charges will be applicable only after MC hands over the project to a contractor and the smart parking project is fully implemented, which could take up to six months more.
'Free parking lots of encroachments'
BJP councillor Saurabh Joshi said, 'MC is facing huge revenue loss as the parking lots are encroached upon by commercial vehicles, which are selling food and other products. Vendors station their vehicles inside lots, and due to police and enforcement staff nexus, they face no penalties. No private firm will agree to smart management unless these lots are freed from such misuse.'
Meanwhile, the BJP councillors also approved free parking passes for councillors, media personnel, mayor, member Parliament, UT administration officers of secretary and HoD level, high court judges and registrars.
Stricter penalty for unpaid water bills also flows through
While the Congress and AAP councillors were still out of the House, the BJP councillors also approved MC's proposal to charge 10% compound surcharge on every water bill unpaid even after two months. The decision is aimed at ensuring timely clearance of water bills, a major source of revenue for the civic body, besides property tax and garbage fee.
For perspective, if a consumer gets ₹100 as water bill every month, ₹10 (10% of the bill) is charged as penalty if the bill remains unpaid for a month. In the next cycle, the bill will rise to ₹210 ( ₹100 from last month plus ₹10 as penalty and ₹100 from current bill). However, if the bill still remains unpaid, the total next month will soar to ₹331 ( ₹210 arrears plus ₹21 as compound penalty and ₹100 from current bill). The penalty is levied under the Chandigarh Water Supply Bylaws, 2011, amended from time to time.
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