Motorists lodge protest against new parking fees
JAKARTA (JP): Motorists protested on Sunday at parking operator PT Securindo Packatama for arbitrarily charging more fees, including Value Added Tax (VAT), to current parking fees without any prior announcement.
They were also skeptical that the private company, which is notorious for its lack of transparency, would really submit the tax to the Ministry of Finance's Directorate General for Taxation.
"I don't really question the amount of the money. But the company have never explained to the public why they have suddenly decided to charge us more for what they claim is VAT," Corintus, an executive at a private company, said.
"When I asked about the new fee, the parking officer just told me to ask their head office. It's a very inadequate reply for customers," he said, relating his experience at Le Meridien Hotel.
The tax is usually included in the parking fees. But as of July 1, PT Securindo has imposed it on motorists at Le Meridien and Mandarin Oriental hotels and has rounded the price upward.
For example, if you park your car for 10 minutes, instead of charging you Rp 1,000 for the first hour of parking plus Rp 100 tax, for the sake of "convenience" they will ask you to pay more. The tax is still 10 percent, but the parking fee is increased to Rp 1,300, so the total amount that you have to pay is Rp 1,500.
An official at the parking company said that they would not bother with scrambling for coins, which could take time and result in long queues.
The official, who asked The Jakarta Post not to publish his name, said on Friday that PT Securindo is still contemplating whether or not to impose the new calculation on all of their lots. It would proceed with the new system if there was no objection from the public, he said.
Corintus, who drives a Toyota Soluna, criticized the company for not improving its service to motorists despite charging more.
Another motorist, Voni Suryani, also expressed her objection, saying that many motorists do not have a high income.
Voni, an employee of an insurance company, questioned the "extra money" collected by the company by rounding-off the fee upward.
"Where does the money go? I wonder how much money they could get as the company manages many parking lots here," said Voni, a resident of Bintaro, South Jakarta, who drives a Katana jeep.
She called on the government to warn the company about violating the current gubernatorial decree on parking fees, which stipulates that a one-hour parking fee for cars is Rp 1,000.
City Governor Sutiyoso had once "sealed" a parking lot managed by PT Securindo for increasing the fee far above from the official rate.
The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) also regretted the company's decision to add VAT to parking fees, urging the company to bear the taxes itself, instead of charging motorists extra.
Some hotels, whose parking lots are not managed by PT Securindo, said they had no plan to impose new parking rates.
"We have no plan to increase it," an employee at Menara Peninsula Hotel said on Sunday.
In the near future, the city administration also plans to impose an increase in parking taxes of up to 20 percent for off- street motorists.
So far, the City's Parking Agency (BP Parkir) only manage "on street parking". (jun)