Retailers against planned bylaw for parking fee levy<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Retailers' Association rejected
\nyesterday the City Council's plan to prepare a bylaw authorizing
\nthe municipality to collect fees from the owners and managers of
\nbuildings with private parking lots.<\/p>\n
The association's chairman, HJA Sinungan, said the fee
\ncollection would further burden those who have already been
\nslugged by the monetary crisis.<\/p>\n
"We are really against it," he said. "Besides, it's against
\nthe 1998 instruction issued by the minister of home affairs in
\nMarch on the cancellation of collection of some taxes and levies,
\nincluding parking fees from private building owners."<\/p>\n
Sinungan said the cancellation of parking fees was good news
\nfor the association's members.<\/p>\n
"It helps reduce our costs. We spend lots of money on the
\nmaintenance of the parking lots, employees and other expenses,
\nwhich are becoming higher and higher compared to the revenue we
\nget."<\/p>\n
Association members are required to hand over 25 percent of
\ntheir parking revenue plus 10 percent in value-added tax and 6
\npercent in income tax to the city administration, he said.<\/p>\n
The administration had, at first, followed the instruction by
\ncanceling the collection of parking levies, he said.<\/p>\n
"But, in April, the governor approved the city council's
\nproposal for the recollection of parking levies under a different
\nscheme."<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, the association sent a letter to the home
\naffairs minister which expressed its objection to the bylaw plan,
\nSinungan said.<\/p>\n
"All members of the association have also been instructed not
\nto give away part of their parking revenue to the administration
\nuntil the central government finds a solution to this problem."<\/p>\n
Separately, City Councilor Ali Wongso Sinaga defended the
\nbylaw plan and the city administration's right to collect parking
\nlevies or taxes.<\/p>\n
The administration has the right to manage the parking
\nbusiness in Jakarta, Ali, who is head of Commission D for
\nDevelopment Affairs, said.<\/p>\n
"These rights are assured by the laws and regulations,
\nincluding 1992 Law No. 14 on Traffic and Public Transportation
\nand 1996 Decree No. 22 which handed over some of the central
\ngovernment's rights to manage traffic-related matters to the city
\nadministration."<\/p>\n
Ali said the Jakarta governor had the right to approve and
\ncancel permission given to a private party to manage parking lots
\nin the latter's area as well as set the parking fees to be
\ncharged to the customers.<\/p>\n
The proposed bylaw will change the status of the city's
\nparking management agency into a city-owned company with greater
\nrights and responsibilities, including parking lots which are
\nmanaged by private companies, he said.<\/p>\n
"The planned bylaw will give the administration greater access
\nto supervise and control parking and traffic-related matters in
\nJakarta, including checking on parking management conducted by
\nprivate companies."<\/p>\n
Ali, who was chairman of the council team to promote and
\ndevelop the draft bylaw, also hit out at the association's
\nmembers, accusing them of deliberately trying to avoid paying
\nparking levies to the administration.<\/p>\n
"Do you think they pay the full 25 percent in levies to the
\nparking management agency? No, they do not. They pay less than 10
\npercent."<\/p>\n
Ali said many managers of private parking lots had also
\ntraversed the regulation on parking fees by charging their
\ncustomers much more than the tariffs set by the governor.<\/p>\n
Many charged the customers Rp 1,000 for the first one or two
\nhours parking when it should only be Rp 500, he said. (gis\/cst)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/retailers-against-planned-bylaw-for-parking-fee-levy-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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