City loses $1.6m as parking firms fail to pay rental fees

JAKARTA (JP): The failure of private parking management companies to pay statutory rental fees costs the City administration Rp 14.66 billion (US$1.6 million) a year in lost revenue, a city councilor said yesterday.

Ali Wongso HS, head of City Council Commission D for development, said many of the 314 companies with a license to manage parking facilities in Jakarta did not pay their dues to BP Parkir, the parking management agency.

He said companies were required by 1992 Gubernatorial Decree number 1538 to pay 25 percent of their gross income in rental fees to BP Parkir.

"Most companies pay the rental fees, but not in full," Ali told reporters.

Ali thought that if all companies paid 25 percent as required, the administration would receive approximately Rp 21.36 billion a year in rental fees.

This figure, he said, was derived by multiplying the total number of parking spaces handled by the companies by Rp 500, the official hourly parking fee, then multiplying this number by eight hours of daily chargeable parking time for 300 days of the year.

No less than 71,200 parking spaces are currently handled by 314 companies, all of which are charged out at a minimum of Rp 500 per hour, he said.

The parking tariff, which applies uniformly to all companies, is officially set by the governor at Rp 500 for the first hour stay.

"However, some companies, including those which handle parking at office buildings and shopping centers, have violated the regulation by charging Rp 1,000 for a minimum stay of two hours," said Ali.

He added that loses incurred by the administration were also due to its failure to control the companies, he added.

"The city does not ensure that the companies oversee parking services correctly and it cannot prove the rental fees submitted are incorrect," Ali said.

Ali said BP Parkir would be granted greater powers of access to check and control parking companies once it became a city- owned company rather than an agency. The new company will be called PD Parkir.

The city council is working on a bylaw to change BP Parkir's status, he said.

"The bill will allow PD Parkir to cooperate or invest in parking management with private companies," he said.

"Parking companies will still have to share part of their gross income with PD Parkir. The portion will be increased to 35 percent," Ali added.

Ali stressed the administration's plan to continue collecting rental fees from private parking companies would not contradict 1997 Law No. 18 which rules that as of May 23 this year, the sources of local taxes will be cut from 42 to nine, and levies from 192 to 30.

"The 35 percent share we will collect from private parking companies is not a levy but a rental fee. You see, the law does not regulate on the collection of rental fees," he said. (cst)