BMC relaxes illegal parking fine from ₹10K to ₹8K

After facing backlash for levying hefty fines up to ₹10,000 for illegal parking, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to bring down the amount.

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It will now charge up to ₹4,000 for illegal parking within 500 metres of a public parking lot in the city, and up to ₹8,000 for illegal parking on five arterial roads which were marked as no-parking zones last year.

The revised fines were announced in a circular issued by the BMC on Monday.

The BMC has decided to consider a parking fee of ₹100 (levied at public parking lots for six to 12 hours) as base fare, and increase it by 40 times for illegally parked vehicles.

Similarly, considering the street parking charge of ₹200, the fine for illegal parking on the five arterial roads has also been increased by 40 times.

The Mumbai Parking Authority (MPA) had raised objections to the BMC’s ₹10,000 fine levied on illegal parking, following which the amount has been reduced.

Municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi said, “This will be the maximum fine for illegal parking around public parking lots. We are working on levying the parking fine proportionate to the hours of illegal parking. This means that ₹4,000 and ₹8,000 will be the maximum fine that will be imposed, and can vary depending on the hours. A proper fine structure will be finalised soon.”

On June 19, 2019, Pardeshi had directed all assistant commissioners in BMC’s 24 administrative wards to impose a fine of up to ₹10,000 on vehicle owners who illegally park within a 500-metre radius of public parking lots. The new fines were rolled out from July 7.

However, this decision did not go down well with several members of MPA, who were not consulted prior to the decision.

In a meeting held on December 3 with the BMC administration, members of the MPA urged the administration to take back the decision to levy hefty fines and revise the plan.

At present, Mumbai has 146 public parking spaces, with a capacity to accommodate 34,808 two-wheelers and four-wheelers. However, many of these spaces go unused as vehicle-owners opt to park illegally on the road instead.