Tangerang parking fee doubles

TANGERANG: The local administration has increased the parking rate from Rp 1,000 (12 U.S. cents) to Rp 2,000 since the beginning of this year in an effort to double its revenues from parking tax.

Last year, the regency made Rp 1.2 billion in parking tax.

Many motorists have protested the policy, saying the increase only added to their burdens.

"If we park at five different places in a day, we must spend Rp 10,000 just for parking. This is more than my lunch allowance," Asep Suganda of Ciputat district told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Tangerang Regent Ismet Iskandar has expressed his readiness to revise the increase if residents complained.

Besides projecting higher revenues from parking tax, the administration has also set increased revenues from hotels, restaurants, amusement centers, billboards, street lights, buildings and income taxes. -- JP