No fee for parking cars in Delhi’s residential areas, says government

After being stuck in a limbo for more than six months, Delhi’s transport minister Kailash Gahlot on Thursday sent the file back to the state transport department, asking it to remove the clause, which he said was “unjustified”.

The Delhi government has decided to do away with the clause of levying a fee for parking cars in residential colonies in its upcoming parking policy.

The Delhi government says the proposal to levy parking fee in the city’s residential areas in unjustified. (Sakib Ali / HT Photo)

After being stuck in a limbo for more than six months, transport minister Kailash Gahlot on Thursday sent the file back to the state transport department, asking it to remove the clause, which he said was “unjustified”, and to republish it for public comments.

“The policy says the municipal corporations would collect the proposed fee for parking cars in residential colonies. It is not justified as despite paying a fee, there would be no guarantee that cars would be safe,” Gahlot said, adding he has cleared all other aspects of the policy.

The minister said civic agencies are already overburdened with hundreds of parking lots, which they have to maintain. “Adding the extra burden of residential colonies with the same amount of staff would only mean the money collected in such colonies would go unspent,” he said.

In the note, Gahlot suggested e-vehicle charging points be provided in any new parking lot that comes up in the city.

Transport department officials agreed to the minister’s view and said such a parking fee makes sense if Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) introduce it within their colonies.

The proposed parking policy —‘Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Rules, 2017’ — also states that those who park outside the approved stilt parkings of their houses will have to pay twice the normal rate. This is being considered for deletion.

Faced with repeated delays, the policy has been with the minister since August last year when the file came to him after the lieutenant-governor’s nod.

But the minister insisted he should be the only approver of the file as in its July 4 verdict, the Supreme Court had said the L-G’s approval was not necessary on matters beyond the subjects of land, police and law and order.

Thursday’s file movement comes just a week ahead of a hearing on the matter in the Supreme Court. On January 19 this year, the apex court had directed the Delhi government to take a decision on the ready-to-be-notified draft parking rules within 10 days. The matter is now listed for February 8.

Despite the court’s intervention, the policy is unlikely to be notified anytime soon as the government will ask for at least 2-3 more months to notify the rules.

“After reworking, the policy will be sent to the minister, after which it will be published for public comments. The comments would be taken for 30 days after which it will be reviewed one last time, approved by the minister and notified,” an official said.