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To an exhausted tourist winding up any major US city, parking is a nightmarish experience that cuts into his precious time. It is a problem of a different kind vis-à-vis back home. If in India, parking lots are choc-a-bloc with cars parked haphazardly blocking entry and exit, in the US one is at his wit's end finding a parking slot alongside wide open roads what with many of the slots being unavailable for the general public requiring as they do permits on grounds as varied as being a VIP or a handicapped person.
And if at the end of your labours, you do find one, you may still be frustrated for want of coins of appropriate denominations because not all meters are electronic accepting debit and credit cards. Nevertheless, the idea of metered parking, warts and all, commends itself for adoption in major cities in India. For, it would do away with the thugs doing the rounds in parking lots. It would also do away with the police-parking mafia nexus. It would make the revenue earning process of the local administration from this source transparent. Roads would get decongested with the threat of ticking parking meters dissuading use of cars with gay abandon. Hefty parking charges at public places would have people preferring pooling or car share.
Spadework
But a lot of spadework would have to be done by the local governments if the idea is to be carried to fruition. Installation of parking meters along important roads is not an easy task in India with roads being constantly dug up for some reason or the other. While coined meters may be somewhat easy to install, electronic meters would defy installation in a country where banking culture is yet to take firm roots and networking is just picking up. If the parking mafia rules the roost today, if the idea of metered parking takes off, it could be the itchy palms of the enforcers. Nevertheless as said earlier, the idea needs to be carried forward, may be on a pilot basis like cash vouchers being attempted in some States to dethrone the discredited public distribution system.
The idea is not a mere fad or being commended in a spirit of me-too. It goes far beyond addressing the parking problem the local governments are grappling with. It has implications for economy too.
(The author is a Delhi-based chartered accountant.)
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