Parking in front of your house on the road in Bengaluru: Soon you will have to pay Rs 5,000

Bengaluru, Feb 11: It will no longer be free for you to park on the public roads in Bengaluru. The Urban Development Department has approved the Parking Policy 2.0 and this would mean that you will have to pay Rs 5,000 a year to park in front of your house on the main road.

The Directorate of Urban Land Transport and the BBMP are in the process of completing the task of preparing an area parking plan by constituting a zonal task force. The exercise could take up to 6 months to one year.

A policy to this effect was first prepared in 2012, but the DULT decided to draft a fresh one in the wake of the city seeing a new set of transport options including Metro, shared by-cycles and bikes and also the entry of cab aggregators.

Under the new policy almost all places including commercial areas, residential zones will be covered under the pay and park system. The policy also lays down guidelines on roads where the parking should be completely banned. In order to park in front of one's house, an annual permit would have to be obtained. The government has fixed Rs 1,000 per year for small cars, Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 for medium cars and Rs 5,000 for MUVs and SUVs for residential parking permits.

"People shall be able to purchase parking permits on a quarterly or annual payment basis and these can be renewed at the end of the term. It will serve as an authorization to occupy the designated parking areas in the locality," the policy says.

Further it also said that a permit does not guarantee a parking spot but only authorizes the permit holder to park on the road for which the permit is allotted, if space is available.

Further it also says that the permits are issued for a particular street and shall not be used to park elsewhere. Permit is given to a vehicle and not a person. The permit holder needs to mandatorily reside on the road for which the permit is issued.

Each applicant may only apply for permits for one vehicle. Permits shall not be issued to applicants residing in buildings that are in violation of the Approved Building Plan/ Zonal Regulation etc.

The policy gives a provision for monthly parking pass for the benefit of regular users of off-street parking lots and bulk parking fee to facilitate shared mobility operators and e-commerce delivery agents. Off street parking mainly includes floor parking complexes.