Higher parking fees for Delhiites from November 1

NEW DELHI: Starting November 1, residents of Delhi will face higher parking fees for their vehicles. This change follows a directive from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), which has instructed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), and the Delhi Cantonment Board (DCB) to review and increase parking charges for private vehicles. The aim is to help reduce air pollution and encourage more people to use public transport.

The MCD manages parking lots in several areas, including Anand Lok, Aurobindo Marg (from IIT-Delhi to AIIMS), Geetanjali Enclave, Green Park Extension, Gulmohar Park, Kailash Colony, Lajpat Nagar Market, Malviya Nagar, Neeti Bagh, Panchsheel Enclave, Safdarjung, and Nizamuddin Basti.

The CAQM has set a deadline of September 30 for the authorities to complete their review and rationalisation of parking fees. This process should take into account local area-specific integrated parking management plans and associated pricing strategies.

According to Arvind Nautiyal, Member-Secretary of CAQM, this is the first time a statutory directive has been issued on this matter. The CAQM noted that despite repeated calls to review parking fees during meetings on air pollution in Delhi-NCR, little progress had been made. The only recent exception was a modest increase in parking charges within the NDMC jurisdiction under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) during the winter of 2023-24.

Last November, the NDMC doubled parking fees in its jurisdiction due to rising pollution levels in Delhi. The GRAP, an emergency response plan to address worsening air quality during winter, recommends raising parking fees to encourage the use of public transport.