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)