Since October 2025, Aneesh (name changed), an employee of a private company, has been spending an extra ₹1,800 every month to park his two-wheeler on MG Road. After almost two years of silence, the return of paid parking on one of the busiest parts of Bengaluru has quietly transformed their monthly budget.
In contrast, her colleague Navya R, who travels from Yelahanka, has switched to public transport. Although this change has helped them save some money, it comes with its own challenges: longer travel time and poor last-mile connectivity.
However, public transport is not an option for Anish. His work involves fieldwork, and his motorcycle remains essential.
This dilemma over daily commute options may soon become common across Bengaluru. Urban corporations have issued tenders to implement paid parking on more than 30 road stretches as part of a pilot project, indicating a broader effort to monetize public spaces and regulate on-street parking.
refund of paid parking
According to Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP), 291 major road stretches across the city currently allow free parking. Of these, 52 roads have been identified as suitable for the introduction of paid parking. If the pilot project produces the desired results, officials say the system could be expanded to the entire city. If everything goes according to plan, the paid parking system will be implemented in the entire city by the beginning of April.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Karthik Reddy said the list was prepared after considering factors such as traffic flow, availability of space and public convenience. A Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) official said that in line with the Parking Policy 2.0 prepared by the Directorate of Urban Land and Transport (DULT), the corporations have further filtered these stretches and floated tenders for implementation.
Most civic groups, traffic police officials and urban planners have welcomed the move.
Bengaluru Coalition’s R. Rajagopal put it this way: “We have enjoyed free parking all these years, which was a missed opportunity to generate revenue for the corporation.”
The idea of reintroducing paid parking was discussed when the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) was functional, and the then Chief Commissioner M. Maheswara Rao had directed the Eastern Division to reintroduce paid parking on MG Road. Two months after the new system was implemented, motorists quickly adapted to the mandate, as there were few alternatives.
The response not only inspired City Central Corporation to expand the system, but also influenced other corporations to adopt the model. However, concerns remain over the rate structure, implementation plan and whether the exercise will actually address traffic congestion.
Why are municipal corporations insisting on paid parking?
The renewed focus on paid parking coincides with the formation of five new municipal corporations. On September 2, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar repeatedly highlighted that bifurcating the city would promote competition among corporations and open up new sources of revenue. Paid parking has emerged as one such source of revenue.
Civic campaigner and urban planner, V. Ravichander, argues that roads are valuable assets of the city, and should be used efficiently. He said, “Paid parking brings order to streets, discourages prolonged occupation of public space, and can improve traffic flow when combined with enforcement.”
RK Mishra, independent director of BSMILE, pointed out that planned enforcement along with systematic paid parking can address micro-level traffic issues, which in turn improves vehicle flow.
A Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) in Bengaluru explained the phenomenon: “Disorganized parking, even in areas where parking is permitted, reduces space availability and encourages parking on connecting roads or sub-arterial roads. When residential parking increases, even smaller roads become cluttered, and crowd dispersion indirectly affects main roads as well.” He said that in case of paid parking, there would be a structured system to accommodate more vehicles.
Globally, paid parking is seen as a demand management tool. According to urban planners, by placing a price on parking, cities attempt to influence travel behavior, discourage unnecessary private vehicle use, and promote public transportation.
However, he also cautioned that paid parking alone would not reduce congestion. He said that without complementary measures such as better public transportation, residential parking regulation, and consistent enforcement, the policy risks merely displacing the problem.
rope returns
Along with paid parking, BTP is resuming towing operations to curb improper parking, although this will be limited to high-density corridors.
While the move may reduce congestion on specific stretches, it may not complement paid parking as expected by corporations and BTPs as towing itself is subject to restrictions. As per the parking policy, towing can be done only when an illegally parked vehicle obstructs the movement of pedestrians or traffic flow.
The policy further states: “The civic agency may endeavor to ensure that the need for towing of vehicles is minimized through effective communication and active monitoring of parking spaces, as extensive towing operations generally create unwanted hindrance to vehicle movement on the roads.”
However, this time, illegal parking is expected to be costly for violators, which may encourage positive behavior and curb the problem to some extent. With both the civic body and BTP jointly enforcing towing, the fine will be collected by the BTP while towing charges will be levied by the civic body.
The rates have not been finalized yet, but could also pose enforcement challenges.
enforcement challenges
A major drawback of paid parking is its spread in residential areas. For example, Rest House Road is often clogged with illegally parked vehicles. When paid parking was introduced on MG Road, the traffic police reported that there was an increase in illegal parking in the area, as people were unwilling to pay for parking. The only way to punish such behavior is by clamping, but the number of vehicles that can be clamped is limited.
This situation is likely to impact other paid parking zones as well.
Adding to the problem, there are around 1,100 no-parking stretches across the city, according to BTP data, which could further add to the problem.
“There should have been a separate plan for residential parking, as it is a sure consequence of paid parking implementation. With no restrictions on parking on residential streets, it will become a community issue, and may also lead to law-and-order problems with the possibility of verbal fights and physical confrontations,” the DCP said.
Civic activist Dattatreya Devare said the issue was acknowledged in the initial draft of the parking policy, and residential parking charges were also suggested. However, public reaction forced DULT to remove this provision.
In such a scenario, Devare said, there should have been an adjustment in paid parking prices to ensure better enforcement. At present, two-wheelers are charged Rs 15 per hour and four-wheelers are charged around Rs 30 per hour. This pricing may be cumbersome in certain areas like ITPL, MG Road and Hudi, where commercial establishments and office spaces are concentrated. He suggested that slight changes, such as reducing two-wheeler charges to ₹10 per hour, could encourage motorists to use designated parking facilities.
For example, near Yelahanka New Town, a paid parking system was introduced a few months ago, with the charge set at ₹10 for two hours. The area has seen a positive response, although residential parking remains an issue.
Rajagopal suggested that parking charges may vary depending on the extent of the road.
Additionally, city corporations should focus on expanding public transport infrastructure, Devare said.
“Expanding the public transport fleet is always beneficial for a city. In fact, there should be space for private players too,” Mishra said.
Bengaluru currently has a BMTC fleet of over 7,000 buses, serving around 50 lakh people, while the city has an estimated population of 1.4 crore. This shows that the country’s largest public transport fleet still lags behind in meeting the needs of the city. This gap has widened further due to poor last mile connectivity and delays in expanding the Namma Metro network. In the absence of a private bus fleet, cabs and autorickshaws have become an expensive alternative in the city.
For example, Navya travels daily from Yelahanka 4th Stage to MG Road. He would either have to take a direct bus, which runs infrequently, or travel by bus to Majestic and then board a metro train. As a result, he has to face a lot of inconvenience, especially during peak hours.
“Even if I reach the bus stop on time, I have to go with hundreds of people, or leave one bus and wait for another. This is why private vehicles are a desirable option, but due to parking charges I am forced to take buses,” he said.
With the implementation of paid parking, the civic body should coordinate with transport agencies to ensure that passengers are not inconvenienced when they change travel modes.
Specifically, the parking policy acknowledges such challenges and outlines ways to address them.
governance and management
The parking policy clearly states that parking funds should be ring-fenced and used by the civic agency only for development works related to pedestrian safety, road safety, non-motorized transport (NMT) infrastructure, footpath improvements, enhancement of public spaces for pedestrians (e.g. avenue plantation), improvement of transit infrastructure, subsidy of public transport and public awareness campaign on parking and sustainable mobility.
The policy also recommends the use of modern technology for parking management, including on-street meters, automatic boom barriers, CCTV cameras, computerized parking slips with timers, variable message signboards and mobile applications.
It proposes to create an integrated central parking portal, hosted by the civic agency, which will display real-time information on parking availability across the city.
However, the civic body has proceeded without paying attention to these aspects.
A source in the corporation confirmed that no action plan has been prepared to generate revenue from paid parking, and there is no proposal to fund any development project through this revenue. “The primary focus is on increasing revenue for the new corporations,” the official said.
As a result, the broader objective of the policy remains unfulfilled. The policy envisages using parking revenue to reduce parking demand by improving sustainable mobility options so that over time, dependence on private vehicles is reduced, and land allocated for parking can be reclaimed for more productive use.
Despite this, civic groups welcome the move, saying there is a demand for paid parking time to improve civic sentiment among citizens. However, Navya says, “I have to go back to my personal vehicle as accessing public transport is tiring, especially after a long working day.”
