Revised pay & park policy to be introduced by PCMC

After the initial policy, which was launched in 2021, failed to gain traction, the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) decided to implement a revised pay and park policy.

According to a PCMC official, the engineering department implemented the plan; however, they have now suggested decentralizing it and assigning the task to the municipal corporation’s ward offices. Four representatives from the Department of Land and Estates will be designated to oversee the project. Soon, the plan will be submitted for final approval.

One agency was given the contract to run the pay and park facility at 58 locations, but the civic body now plans to bring in other agencies to oversee various parking spots.

Ward-level tenders will be released for the same.

According to a senior PCMC official, the facility was started at 40 out of 58 spots by the previous agency, which did not execute it well. The pandemic caused losses for him as well. Besides, until the civic organization issued a separate tender for it, vehicles from no parking zones were not being towed. People did not choose the pay and park option as a result.

Last time, the PCMC had put out a separate tender to tow vehicles because the recently established Pimpri Chinchwad police commissioner didn’t have approval to perform the task.

Nonetheless, the concerned department granted the commissioner authorization to act on wrongly parked vehicles last year.

Additionally, the PCMC official stated that parking fees under the new policy will stay the same and that an increase in fees will be decided upon after receiving a good response from the facility. Officials say that while four-wheelers will pay Rs 10 per hour, two- and three-wheelers will have to pay Rs 5. Vehicles like mini buses will pay Rs 25, while heavy vehicles will cost Rs 100 per hour.