Park on the road next to your house at night? Pay Rs 1800 from next month

Mumbaikars might have to shell out two times more for parking vehicles in designated civic parking lots and pay a monthly fee for parking on roads next to their residence as the new pay-and-park policy comes into effect from March this year.

The pay-and-park policy, which has been on paper for several years, has been a bone of contention between the civic body and vehicle owners. After going back and forth multiple times, the revised policy was approved by the state government in January.

The policy was not implemented as the code of conduct for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections kicked in on January 11. However, it is expected to come into effect as soon as the code of conduct is lifted in March.

The policy is aimed at reducing congestion on roads and encouraging use of public transport in the city.

It entails hiking the parking rate at civic parking lots by 200 percent and introducing residential parking permits to charge residents for parking on the road. Residents might have to shell out around Rs 1,800 a month for parking on the road.

Although the policy was close to implementation in the first half of 2016, the decision was stalled after staunch opposition from citizen groups and BJP MLA Raj Purohit.

Following the opposition, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed Minister of State for Urban Development, Ranjit Patil, to look into the matter. Patil subsequently ordered a temporary stay on the policy and announced a public hearing.

In January this year, CM approved the policy and left its implementation to the BMC.

While the move has been welcomed by civic body and transport experts, who argue that a sharp rise in parking fees might lead to less cars on the roads, citizens feel the increase in far from reasonable.

One expert argues that since every inch of road is precious in Mumbai, citizens should be made to pay accordingly if they take up this valuable space by parking their vehicles during peak hours. There are 28 lakh vehicles registered in Mumbai.

Key points about the new pay-and-park policy:

* The existing pay and park locations have been categorized into three categories – A, B and C – with proposed rates of Rs 60, Rs 40 and Rs 20 respectively. Category A will include prime crowded locations, while C will include relatively less crowded spaces.

* Parking will be free at public places such as Girgaum Chowpatty, Juhu Chowpatty and Gateway to promote tourism.

* All rates will be singular on Sundays and public holidays.

* Under the residential scheme, a car can be parked on the road from 8 pm to 8 am by paying a monthly charge between Rs 1,980 to Rs 660 depending on the area. The day-time cost will be in the range of Rs 3,960 to Rs 1,320.

* Only one parking space will be allotted to one resident and societies will have to contact local ward office to get details.