Runaway Parking Tariffs in Central Bima City

The high cost of parking at several locations in Bima City, West Nusa Tenggara, has drawn many complaints from residents. One such location is the Paruga Nae Convention Hall on Jalan Soekarno-Hatta. This public area is managed by the Bima City Government and is situated in the city centre. However, parking attendants in the area are suspected of engaging in illegal levies by charging arbitrary parking fees.

“At the Paruga Nae Convention Hall, the parking fee is Rp 5,000 for motorcycles and Rp 10,000 for cars,” said a resident, Amiruddin Bima, on Monday (24/8/2026).

In fact, the official parking fee set by regulation is Rp 2,000 for motorcycles and Rp 4,000 for cars. Yet the attendants have raised the fee nearly threefold.

Amiruddin questioned the amount of the parking fee at the venue when attending official government or community invitations. According to him, the parking attendants claimed the fee was set by the Bima City Transportation Agency.

“I asked about it and the parking attendant admitted that the fee was set and paid to the Bima City Transportation Agency,” he said.

Another resident, Aisyah, 42, voiced a similar complaint. She said she paid expensive parking fees at public areas such as Serasuba Square and the Paruga Nae Convention Hall.

“At these two places, the car parking fee is Rp 10,000. The attendant asks for the money before the vehicle is even parked,” Aisyah complained.

She considered the parking fee to be highly unreasonable. Aisyah also complained about the attendants’ behaviour of leaving quickly after receiving the parking money. She joked that the parking fee was higher than the price of food and drinks such as iced tea, coffee, or mineral water.

“It must be brought under control. Parking fees are being charged everywhere in Bima City,” she said.

The Head of the Bima City Transportation Agency, Isfahmin, said the agency is currently organising and improving parking management in the area, including disciplining the behaviour of parking attendants working in the field.

“When we fix things at some points, the same problem appears at other points. But we never stop organising it, especially the behaviour of parking attendants,” Isfahmin said.

In accordance with the regional regulation, he said, the parking fee for motorcycles in Bima City is only Rp 2,000, while the fee for cars is Rp 4,000.

“The parking ticket clearly states this in accordance with the regional regulation. However, we acknowledge that practice in the field is not yet optimal,” he added.

Isfahmin stressed that the agency continues to deploy personnel to assist and require parking attendants to use the tickets prepared by the Bima City Transportation Agency. He urged the public to ask parking attendants for a ticket when parking their vehicles.

“We continue to assist them. But there are still rogue parking attendants who do not comply with using tickets,” Isfahmin said.

“If you pay for parking with a large banknote, ask for your change. Do not pay if the parking attendant has no ticket or parking attendant uniform,” he concluded.