On April 7, the Delhi High Court issued a notice to several civic agencies – including Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Delhi Police – to clarify their parking policies and rates. This was all brought about by a petition from a citizen who was charged Rs 700 for a day’s parking at the New Delhi Railway station, when MCD had promised in 2008 to keep rates at Rs 10 for the day.
Ironically, the MCD is now proposing to raise parking rates in the city.
A final decision has not been made yet, but the MCD is considering a rate increase across the board, or selective increases based on location. The uniform rate is expected to be Rs 10 for two hours and then Rs 10 for each additional hour.
This does not seem unreasonable, however. I posted a blog on May 19, 2010, in which I outline an unconventional method for determining the fairness of parking rates – developed Dr. Adhiraj Joglekar, founder of the website driving-india.blogspot.com. Basically, the doctor says he would expect Rs 35 per hour in India. With this in mind, RS 10 sounds like a steal.
The bottom line, however, is that it does not appear that rates were uniform before. Look at the 700 Rs fee that sparked the court case in the first place, for example. So if the new rates are enforced, the residents of New Delhi will often end up paying less for parking, in reality.
“Our aim is to ensure that the contractors do not fleece Delhiites,” says Subhash Arya, MCD’s leader of the house.
