From 1 December 2016, short-term parking charges for public car parks in Singapore has been adjusted as follows:
- Outside of the Restricted Zone/Designated Area (RZ/DA) – the parking charge will be raised by $0.10, from $0.50 to $0.60 per half-hour;
- Within the RZ/DA – the parking charge will be raised by $0.20, from $1.00 to $1.20 per half-hour.
- Differential charging on a per-minute basis will continue to apply for selected EPS car parks in locations with high demand.
Motorists can exchange their old parking coupons for new ones at petrol kiosks, but a last-minute rush for these has led to stocks temporarily running out at many petrol stations.
The authorities have clarified that motorists who fail to display coupons with the new value will be given a one-time advisory to remind them, instead of a summons, but that this “flexibility” will be extended only once.
Drivers however have taken to Facebook to say that they are being penalised by the parking enforcement officers. Facebook page Roads.sg shared how one driver’s plea for grace by one motorists was ignored by the enforcement officer who issued him with a summon instead.
Opposition politician Goh Meng Seng in narrating his friend’s experience at getting the new parking coupons explained how the entire exchange exercise had not been well thought through by the authorities.
“My friend told me almost all petrol stations in Singapore ran out of new parking coupons! Worse still, the petrol stations were unable to exchange the old coupons into money because they were short of cash (hey, most people pay by nets or credit cards at petrol stations)!
So, drivers ended up unable to exchange their old coupons for money and at the same time they couldn’t buy any New Coupons! It is such a big screw up!”