Valley
Kathmandu Metropolitan City floats plan to hike parking fees
Presenting the financial bill on Tuesday, Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya proposed charging Rs 25 per hour for two-wheelers and Rs80 for two-wheelers in the city’s core areasAnup Ojha
The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has proposed to hike the parking fees for various designated areas in the metropolis, dividing them into two categories.
The Financial Bill, presented by Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya on Tuesday, has fixed the parking rates for two, three and four-wheel vehicles.
The bill has put New Road, Dharmapath, Kantipath, Durbarmarg, and other inner areas like Tripureshwor, Ratnapark, Bhotahiti, Kesharmahal, Lainchaur under category one. It proposed a parking fee of Rs25 per hour for two-wheelers and Rs 80 per hour for four-wheelers under this category.
Putting the rest of the places under category two, the bill has proposed parking fee of Rs15 per hour for two-wheelers and Rs40 four wheelers.
If the bill is enacted into a law, bigger vehicles will be charged fee Rs100 per hour.
The bill has also made it mandatory for private business owners to register their businesses in the metropolis and pay for parking lots that would be occupied by their vehicles. However, the business houses using a large number of vehicles for parking will be extended free-parking facilities for five years.
“We are in discussion to pass the bill into Act. By mid-July, the city will have a complete financial Act,” said Ishwor Man Dangol, spokesperson for the metropolis.
The metropolis, in collaboration with private company Wheels Truly Yours, recently launched ‘digital parking’ system in five places in the New Road area where anyone can check the availability of parking space on their android phone.
At present, two- and four-wheel users can book parking spaces in areas next to Rameshwaram Sweets road that leads to Indra Chowk, Dharmapath, Pako and RB Complex through the app named ‘Park KTM’.
Meanwhile, the metropolitan city has also stated in the bill that tickets will be issued against the vehicles parked in ‘no-parking’ zones.
It has proposed imposing no-parking fines: Rs1,000 for two-wheelers; Rs2,000 for three-wheelers; Rs5,000 for four-wheelers with an engine capacity up to 1,500; Rs7,000 for four-wheelers with a capacity higher between 1,500cc and 2,200cc; and Rs10,000 for vehicles over 2,200cc.