Using differential rates will help decongest city, says Commissioner

Though people are having a hard time coping up with revised parking rates in north and south Delhi, commissioner of the South Corporation said differential parking rates are necessary for decongesting the city.

“The differential parking rates work on the principle that parking vehicles in congested areas will cost more whereas the parking charges will remain low in non-congested areas,” said Manish Gupta, Commissioner of South Delhi Municipal Corporation.

Motorists have been facing problems since Saturday when the new rates came into force in areas under North and South Corporations.

“When I had gone to Karol Bagh on Sunday I paid Rs 30 for parking my car in a surface parking lot. And today I was asked to pay Rs 40 in Green Park for two hours. People are confused with different rates,” said Mohan Prakash, R K Puram resident.

“When all the corporations are ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, then why can’t they have uniform parking rates throughout Delhi?” Prakash added.

Gupta said different parking rates are the need of the hour to decongest roads. “Why should rates be the same? We should give incentive to people parking their vehicles in parking facilities provided to them, in turn helping in the process of decongesting marketplaces,” the official added.

But experts said that “differential parking rates” means that parking charges should vary even in the areas under South Corporation.

“We had proposed different parking rates under Category A, B and C. But those rates were not approved by the standing committee (highest decision-making body) of the civic agency,” Gupta said.

According to the revised rates, one has to pay Rs 20 to park a four-wheeler for an hour at surface parking and Rs 20 for every additional hour up to five hours. One has to shell out Rs 100 for parking a car for five hours up to 24 hours.

A day pass for parking a four-wheeler for a month will cost Rs 1,200 and Rs 2,000 will be charged for day and night pass.