New cars to cost more as MCD plans parking fee hike

Buying a car in the city is likely to get more expensive. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) plans to double the night parking fee which a buyer has to pay while registering his vehicle.

Those planning to buy cars priced between Rs4 lakh and Rs10 lakh will have to shell out Rs12,000 as night parking charge against the prevailing Rs4,000. For luxury cars, costing more than Rs10 lakh, buyers will have to pay Rs 20,000.

The civic body says it is planning this rise to replenish its depleting coffers. The exponential increase in construction costs is another reason. "There has been tremendous increase in the cost of building material and other expenses. We require more money to ensure that the construction of parking lots is completed on time,`` a senior municipal corporation official said.

The proposal will be placed before the civic body's standing committee on Tuesday. For using MCD roads and parking spaces, Delhiites have to pay a one-time night parking charge to the municipal corporation while registering the vehicle. "People often park vehicles outside their homes or on roads and other public places which belongs to MCD. They have to pay for using MCD land for parking," the official said.

With close to four lakh new cars added every year to Delhi's vehicle load, the proposed increase is likely to become a good source of revenue for the civic agency. Till now, luxury cars did not have to pay these charges. But now MCD plans to levy a charge of Rs 20,000 on all cars priced above Rs 10 lakh.

Similarly, the civic body has almost doubled the annual fees on commercial vehicles. Private buses, tempos and trucks will now have to pay between Rs4,000 and Rs8,000. Keeping in mind the growing number of private and radio taxis with all-India permit, MCD plans to charge Rs 10,000 annually as night parking charges.

Justifying the proposed hike, MCD officials said, for building a manual multi-level parking for one car, the government spends approximately Rs 4 lakh and for an automated multi-level parking the payout is approximately Rs 9 lakh. "This means for every new car in Delhi, the government incurs an expenditure of Rs 4 lakh for a manual parking. With limited parking space available we have no option but to build multi-level parking and with the sharp rise in construction cost, we need more money," said a senior MCD official.

Unfortunately, the parking scenario in the city hasn't improved much in the last few years. MCD has plans for several parking projects, which includes 21 conventional multi-level, 15 automated multi-level and 4 stack parking lots, to create room for close to 8,000 cars. But none of these projects are nearing completion. In fact, most of them, sanctioned in the last two-three years, are in the initial stages.