Pay For Parking Before Buying A Car
By Nandini Rao
In India’s bustling urban landscapes, the cacophony of honking cars and gridlocked streets has become a symbol of both progress and dysfunction.
As the country urbanises at a breakneck pace—with over 35 per cent of its 1.4 billion population now residing in cities—the clash between private vehicle ownership and public space equity has reached a tipping point.
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| Mumbai’s 7,000 public buses ferry 45 per cent of commuters but delayed on an average of 22 minutes daily due to traffic snarls |
Cities like Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Ghaziabad are pioneering a transformative approach: tying car ownership to proof of private parking. This policy shift, echoing global precedents, challenges the notion that public roads are infinite commodities and reasserts that mobility must not come at the cost of collective welfare.
Chennai, a city grappling with a 10 per cent annual surge in vehicle registrations, has emerged as a trailblazer. In 2022, the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) mandated that residents provide proof of private parking—either owned or leased—before registering new vehicles. The move came as the city’s vehicle density soared to 1,200 per km of road, nearly double the national average.
Early data suggests a 15 per cent reduction in on-street parking violations in zones like T. Nagar and Anna Nagar, where pavements were previously choked with cars. “This isn’t anti-car; it’s pro-people,” says CUMTA chairperson Rajesh Luthra.
“When 40 per cent of Chennai’s commuters rely on public transit, why should 5 per cent of car owners monopolise 30 per cent of road space?”
Ahmedabad, where 18 per cent of households own two or more cars, introduced similar rules in 2023. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation reported that 23 per cent of new car buyers opted for smaller vehicles or deferred purchases after the policy’s implementation.
Mumbai, home to 3.5 million vehicles crammed into 2,000 km of roads, is contemplating dual reforms. Alongside plans to ban petrol/diesel cars by 2030, the Maharashtra government is drafting a parking mandate inspired by Tokyo’s model. A 2024 BMC report revealed that illegal parking consumes 11 per cent of the city’s road space, costing the economy Rs 7,500 crore annually in lost productivity.
Mumbai’s 7,000 public buses ferry 45 per cent of commuters but are delayed an average of 22 minutes daily due to traffic snarls. Prioritising parking accountability could free roads for essential services.
The global playbook offers validation. Japan’s shakoshōmei (parking space certification) law, enacted in 1962, slashed roadside parking in Tokyo from 70 per cent to 15 per cent by 2000. Singapore’s Vehicle Quota System—where a certificate to own a car can cost up to Rs 30 lakh—has kept car owners hip at 11 per cent , compared to India’s 22 per cent.
Hong Kong, with a population of approximately 7.5 million and around 800,000 vehicles, has been addressing illegal parking through a system of fixed-penalty fines. As of 2023, the standard fine for illegal parking stood at HK$320 (approximately Rs 3,200). This rate had remained unchanged since 1994, leading to discussions about increasing fines to enhance deterrence.
In February 2025, Financial Secretary Paul Chan announced plans to raise fines for traffic-related offences and increase parking meter fees as part of the annual budget. The exact new penalty rates were to be determined after discussions with lawmakers. The proposed adjustments aimed to improve traffic management and were expected to generate about HK$2 billion in additional revenue per annum.
Regarding the enforcement of these fines, approximately 3.01 million illegal parking tickets were issued in 2023, averaging over 8,200 tickets daily and bringing in around HK$964 million in fines. This reflects a slight decrease from 2022, which saw 3.36 million tickets issued, totaling HK$1.076 billion in fines.
Aurora, Colorado, has implemented specific off-street parking requirements to manage residential parking effectively. According to the city's zoning codes, only 40 per cent of the front yard can be used as a parking or driveway surface, and parking on landscaped or lawn areas is prohibited.
Any new parking area must be surfaced with materials like asphalt, concrete, brick, or stone pavers. Recent legislative developments in Colorado, such as House Bill 24-1304, prohibit municipalities within metropolitan planning organisations from enforcing minimum parking requirements for certain residential developments near transit areas after June 30, 2025.
Critics argue such policies penalise lower-income citizens, but data refutes this. According to a 2022 report, car ownership is predominantly among wealthier households in urban India.
Specifically, 16 per cent of the total urban population own cars, but only 3 per cent of the urban bottom 40 per cent (UB40) do so. This indicates that car ownership is significantly lower among the less affluent urban population.
Additionally, data from a 2023 survey indicates that more than half of Indian households own a motorcycle or scooter, while less than one in ten own a car or jeep.
Moreover, cities like Pune are coupling parking mandates with expanded public transit—plans include 100 km of new bus lanes and 3,000 shared e-bikes. The goal isn’t to deny ownership but to demand responsibility. If you can afford a Rs 20 lakh SUV, you can budget Rs 5,000 monthly for parking.
As Indian cities add 300 million residents by 2050, the choice is stark: perpetuate a car-centric model that strangles streets or reimagine mobility as a shared right. Chennai’s parking mandate isn’t just a policy—it’s a manifesto for cities where a child’s walk to school isn’t a gauntlet of chrome and hubris. The road to equity is long, but as these cities prove, it begins with one parked car at a time.
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