Delhi govt comes out with draft parking policy, proposes

The Delhi government has come out with a draft parking policy which proposes checks on multiple ownership and roadside parking of vehicles through taxes and charges, in view of better management of limited parking space available in the city.
The comprehensive draft policy, which was given a go ahead by Lt Governor Anil Baijal, will be vetted after getting public feedback for a month and then formulated into workable steps, a senior government official said today.
"Parking management should be used as a demand management tool to decrease use of private vehicles and thus reduce the overall demand for parking, and shift travel to public transport, para-transport and non-motorized modes.

"Sixty per cent of all trips made in Delhi are short ones which can easily be made on these alternate modes," stated the draft policy.
It calls for a ban on subsidised parking at public places with users paying full cost of parking facility based on land opportunity cost, capital cost, maintenance cost and temporal demand.
In order to discourage ownership of multiple cars by one individual, incremental increase in road tax will be considered.

The Transport department will prepare a policy to disincentivise purchase of multiple ownership of cars. The necessary amendment will be made in the Delhi Motor Vehicle Taxation Act for prescription of incremental road tax.

The number of taxis on aggregator platforms has increased significantly in recent years without ensuring commensurate availability of parking space for such vehicles.
"A proof of parking space needs to be insisted upon before grant of permit to such taxis," according to the draft policy.
Other short-term recommendations of the policy include rationalisation of "low" parking charges in the city, and parking allowed on notified roads only.
Parking may be allowed in residential areas on payment of (parking) charges and higher charges may be levied for parking in those areas during the day-time, it stated.
Medium and long-term recommendations of the policy include promotion of multi-level parking over surface parking through a price incentivization mechanism.

Amendment in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, to suggest a fine of Rs 2,000 for illegal parking on any notified road, strict prohibition of parking on footpaths as a cognizable offence, heavy charges on junk vehicles parked in public streets, are some other long-term measures suggested in the policy.