Chandigarh, Oct 24 — The city’s long-pending Smart Parking initiative has been delayed again, as the Municipal Corporation plans to brief new Chief Secretary H. Rajesh Prasad before finalising the project proposal. Officials said the decision came after the UT administration recently sought a comprehensive report on the scheme’s progress.
“Instead of sending a written reply, the MC will make a detailed presentation to the chief secretary, outlining the current status, obstacles and future strategy,” a senior official mentioned. Only after that, the civic body plans to finalise the request for proposal (RFP) and present it to the General House for approval, the official added.
The ₹50-crore Smart Parking project, introduced in August 2022, aimed to modernise all 89 paid parking sites through FASTag-based payments and digital monitoring. Despite multiple revisions, the project has failed to move beyond the paperwork stage, leaving attendants to issue hand-written slips.
The House first reviewed the plan in July 2023 and approved new parking rates in July 2024. But the tendering process was derailed by disagreements over GST liabilities, stamp duty, and terms of the memorandum of understanding. The House then scrapped the earlier version and directed officials to prepare a revised framework.
Meanwhile, to address commuter concerns, the MC is preparing a citywide monthly parking pass scheme. A car pass is proposed at ₹500 and a two-wheeler pass at ₹250, allowing unlimited use of all paid parking zones. Officials said the system could fetch around ₹30 crore annually if half of the city’s regular commuters adopt it — compared to the existing monthly earnings of ₹50–₹80 lakh.
Once operational, the Smart Parking plan is expected to raise the city’s annual parking revenue to nearly ₹50 crore and eliminate manual ticketing.
