Parking firms told to cover damages

Parking firms told to cover damages

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration and council have
temporarily agreed to order all car parking operators in the
capital to cover car losses or damages due to fire through an
insurance scheme, a city councilor said on Friday.

Head of Commission D for development affairs Ali Wongso Sinaga
said the guidelines were described in the draft of a city bylaw
on parking affairs, which was expected to be enacted in a plenary
council session later this month.

"But the insurance won't cover damage caused by, for example,
an accident when parking a car, because we assume the vehicles
are also insured," Ali said.

He said details of the proposal, such as who would pay for the
insurance premium -- the motorists, or the parking management
firms -- had yet to be defined.

"Ideally, it should be the responsibility of the parking
operators," he said, adding that the issue was still being
discussed by the related city administration and councilors from
his commission.

"It should be discussed further whether the planned increase
in the parking fee would also cover the insurance, or the planned
hike should be increased slightly more again for the insurance
premium fee."

Jakarta is well-known to residents living outside the capital
as the city with the most exorbitant parking fees. Compounding
the problem is that most parking operators have no responsibility
in regard to car damages or losses in their parking areas.

Parking operators appear however, to be extremely vigilant in
regard to receipt of money for their services.

Careful reading of the smallprint on most parking tickets
reveals that the ticket does not even guarantee a parking spot
for motorists.

Crowded area

Under the draft bylaw, parking fees will be raised from the
current official fee of between Rp 300 and Rp 1,000 for the first
hour for sedans, jeeps, minibuses and vans in on-street parking
in moderately crowded and crowded areas managed by city-owned
parking operator BP Parkir.

Should BP Parkir fail to provide parking meters at the site,
"the tariff should be Rp 1,000 for a whole day of parking", Ali
said.

The off-street parking fee would be set between Rp 500 to Rp
1,000 per hour, depending on vehicle frequency through the area.

Ali said calculation of fees for off-street parking would be
divided into several categories.

Parking fees at hotels or shopping malls would be calculated
hourly, while parking fees at apartments, for example, would be
calculated every three hours.

Ali suggested Governor Sutiyoso issue a decree regulating the
road categories in the capital prior to the new draft bylaw,
otherwise "the parking regulation could not be implemented".

The draft bylaw would also specify that parking operators
obtain a permit from the governor for the business.

"Companies will be spared the permit requirement if they have
a free parking area with a maximum five parking lots, or a 125-
square meter parking area," Ali said.

Operators will also be required to pay a 35 percent levy of
their income for parking facilities at a building, and a 10
percent for a space only used for parking vehicles.(ind/bsr)