No permit? You can't park even outside your home in Bengaluru

Authorities are set to take a hard look at parking in residential areas of the city. The new parking policy approved recently has introduced a permit system, which effectively means you have to pay to use the public space in front of your home.

The annual fee of the permit has been fixed at Rs 1,000 for small cars, Rs 4,000 for medium cars and Rs 5,000 for MUVs/SUVs. An applicant can get the permit for only one vehicle. The permit will be issued as long as parking does not disturb the movement of emergency vehicles. Even then, the permit does not “guarantee” a free spot but only authorises the holder to park his/her vehicle as long as he or she is a resident of the road and can prove that he/she lives in a building that doesn’t violate the approved plans and zonal regulations.

“In the long term, Bengaluru must regulate all on-street parking in residential areas and reclaim much of this space for the common public good. The burden of providing parking space for personal vehicles should be on the vehicle owner and not the civic agency,” the policy states.

Read | The goal: Reduce Bengaluru's notorious traffic congestion

The policy hopes for a “steady shift” towards sustainable mobility of non-motorised transport. A pilot scheme will be implemented in this regard. And based on its impact, it will be extended to other areas of the city.

However, an activist who has been fighting for the introduction of parking plans in the city called the policy “heavily diluted”, which would be hit hard by the result of the pilot plan.

“The outcome of the pilot plan should not decide the issue of extending the policy to other residential areas. All areas under BBMP limits must come under the policy,” he said.

‘The great blunder’

The activist feels the government has done a “great blunder” in reducing the permit charges. “The draft policy had talked about fixing the permit fee at Rs 50,000, which was apt. People having the luxury of car travel should be made to pay for using public property,” he said.

He noted that BMTC staff who operate vehicles on roads congested by unregulated parking have not been paid for the last two months.

“The BMTC is broke because the government has been coming up with policies that cater to those sitting inside cars. Even the parking policy is an eyewash when you consider the rent value of the public place where a car is parked,” he said.