The draft parking management area plan (PMAP), being firmed up by the Delhi Government, envisages variable charges for residential and commercial areas to influence the parking demand in the national Capital. The Transport Department has put the guidelines of the draft PMAP, a part of the parking policy 2017, in the public domain and sought suggestions from stakeholders.

The guidelines suggest a pricing strategy to eliminate free parking and introduce effective parking charges. A detailed guideline on the strategy is being developed by a sub-group, a Transport Department official said.

The guidelines call for introducing variable parking rates to influence parking demand considering peak and non-peak hours, duration of stay-longer duration higher rates, commercial importance of area, particular day of the week-weekdays and weekends, among others.

They suggest abandoning the practice of allowing annual or monthly charges for parking in commercial areas. “Annual passes allow unlimited use and do not reduce demand. Commuter behaviour will remain unresponsive to pricing,” the guidelines say.

In commercial areas, based on the methods to be adopted by urban local bodies, an hourly base price may be fixed and made variable according to the demand.

Residential parking permits may be issued during the first phase of implementation. Parking charges should be optimal and not be so high as to reduce occupancy drastically or too low that it induces more demand, they say.

The optimal pricing should ensure that at least 85 per cent of available parking space is occupied during peak time. About 15 per cent of the parking space should remain available at any time to encourage short-term parkers, the guidelines recommend.

As per the Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Rules of 2017 notified by Lt Governor Anil Baijal in January, the city Government is required to implement the parking management area plan.

As per the provision, the fees for parking on designated streets and lanes in residential areas will be decided by the civic agencies in consultation with the Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), the notification said. Parking charges will be according to a base parking fee.

It will be determined by the apex committee through a base parking fee panel that will be headed by the Transport Commissioner, it said.

The civic agencies will be responsible for identifying and providing space for night parking of commercial vehicles, for which charges will be levied, the notification said. The local area plans will also ensure special provisions for the differently-abled persons according to the norms set by the Bureau of Indian Standards, National Building Code of India and others.

The rules also provide for exclusive parking facilities for e-rickshaws and other electric vehicles.

It also aims to ban parking on footpaths and main roads with the traffic police and civic agencies being authorised to tow away such vehicles. Towing away and daily custody charges will range from Rs 200 to Rs 2,000, the notification stated.