Connaught Place traders welcome NDMC decision to hike parking tariff

The traders of Connaught Place have welcomed the decision to hike parking fee at the Central Delhi hotspot, saying that the move will help solve the parking space problem to a large extent.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Monday decided to remove the current upper cap of Rs 100 on parking charges, thereby effecting a steep hike in rates. Presently, people pay Rs 20 per hour for the first five hours and a flat rate of Rs 100 for any period beyond that. According to the council’s new plan, residents will have to pay Rs 20 for every extra hour beyond the five-hour limit also.

“This is a good initiative. It will help people get parking spaces in Connaught Place. At present, people come and park their vehicles for hours and pay just Rs 100. When this hike comes into force, they will be forced to look for other options like multilevel lots at Shivaji Stadium and Baba Khadak Singh Marg, which will be comparatively cheaper,” Atul Bhargava, president, New Delhi Traders’ Association said.

The NDMC will implement this parking tariff hike as part of the smart parking initiative and the move has been cleared by the council.

“There will be no cap on the parking charges once this is implemented. People will have to pay Rs 20 for every extra hour even beyond the current fivehour limit. Earlier, even if someone parked for 24 hours, they paid only Rs 100. Hopefully, shoppers and restaurant patrons will now have more parking slots,” he said.

There will be extra charges for parking during night hours, the rates of which will also be decided soon.

A new ‘Parking Policy for Delhi’, approved by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, proposes hiked charges for daytime parking and those for peak hours.

The rates will vary during weekdays and weekends.

NDMC WILL IMPLEMENT PARKING TARIFF HIKE AS PART OF THE SMART PARKING INITIATIVE

AND THE MOVE HAS ALREADY BEEN CLEARED BY THE COUNCIL