Parking charges in Lutyens’ Delhi could soon more than double

People visiting Lutyens’ Delhi for shopping, leisure, or other purposes may have to pay higher parking fees in the new year with the New Municipal Council (NDMC) setting the ball rolling on the upgrade of 157 parking sites across its jurisdiction into smart parking facilities

People visiting Lutyens’ Delhi for shopping, leisure, or other purposes may have to pay higher parking fees in the new year with the New Municipal Council (NDMC) setting the ball rolling on the upgrade of 157 parking sites across its jurisdiction into smart parking facilities. With real-time slot availability and booking as well as digital payments, the parking rates across the area are also expected to witness a steep hike of up to 40-50%.

(HT Archive)

The monthly passes are likely to become even more expensive with proposed rates expected to be two to three times the prevailing rates, an NDMC project report showed. HT has seen the report.

NDMC, which currently manages these parking facilities, has also invited tenders to hand over operations to a private contractor that will also be responsible for the upgrade.

According to the tender documents, a hike of up to 50% in existing parking fees has been proposed. NDMC has categorized 157 parking sites into three clusters: the first cluster covers Connaught Place, the second covers the northern area of Connaught Place, and the third covers the southern area of Connaught Place. The total monthly license fee for all three clusters is set at ₹6.40 crore.

“The entire bidding process is expected to be completed by December 2026, and the work order for the new contractor is likely to be issued in January 2027,” an NDMC official said.

Parking rate hike

According to officials, it is proposed to increase the off-street parking fee for four-wheelers—currently ₹20 per hour—to ₹30 per hour. Similarly, for on-street parking, where the current rate is ₹50 per hour, an increase of ₹20 per hour has been proposed.

For monthly four-wheeler parking passes, the current rate of ₹2,000 for off-street facilities is proposed to be doubled to ₹4,000. For multi-level parking, it is proposed to increase the fee from ₹1,000 to ₹3,300.

Similarly, for off-street parking, the current fee of ₹10 per hour for two-wheelers is proposed to be increased by ₹5 per hour. Furthermore, for on-street parking—where the current fee is ₹20 per hour—a hike of ₹10 is proposed, bringing the rate to ₹30 per hour.

For two-wheelers, the monthly pass for off-street parking is proposed to be increased from ₹1,000 to ₹2,000, while the monthly pass for multi-level parking is proposed to be raised from ₹500 to ₹1,000.

Smart parking

The project will cover around 15,060 equivalent car spaces (ECS) across three clusters.The first cluster, covering Connaught Place, comprises 48 parking sites, while the second and third clusters, covering north and south of Connaught Place, respectively, will have 63 and 46 sites.

The proposed smart parking system will replace manual parking operations with technology-enabled facilities, including automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, FASTag readers, boom barriers and digital displays showing the availability of vacant spaces.

“Motorists will be able to check parking availability through a mobile application and web portal, reserve spaces in advance, purchase monthly passes and make cashless payments. The system will also be integrated with a central Parking Operations Control Centre and the NDMC’s Integrated Command and Control Centre for real-time monitoring of parking sites and transactions,” official said.