The smart parking gadget will put an end to complaints of motorists buying parking coupons they rarely use or overpaying for them.
GEORGE TOWN: Penangites have been advised to use the smart parking gadget (SPG) to avoid paying more than necessary for parking space on the island.
Penang Island City Council (MBPP) financial management standing committee alternate chairman Joseph Ng said those using the SPG would only pay for the exact duration of their use of council parking space.
“So if you park for 15 minutes, you only pay for that 15 minutes. There will be no issue about paying more than necessary,” he said.
The SPG went on trial in 2014 and was officially launched in October last year. Using the prepaid concept, motorists load money into a smart card, which is inserted into the SPG device placed on the car dashboard for inspection by enforcement officers.
The gadget when turned on displays the credit, which is deducted each time a motorist uses the council parking space.
“The council is trying to promote this. We are the first in Malaysia to introduce this system,” Ng said.
He was asked to comment on a letter by FMT reader Ravinder Singh who claimed the company contracted to manage council parking spaces was “exploiting” motorists by bundling 40 sen (30-minute parking) and 80 sen (one-hour parking) coupons in the same booklet.
He argued that people who did not need 80 sen coupons were forced to buy them anyway.
He said the council should ensure that the company did not exploit motorists by bundling coupons of different denominations into one booklet. The “subtle exploitation”, he said, should be stopped.
Ng said the council had received such complaints before following the implementation of the parking coupon system in late 2013.
“Previously, the coupons were all in separate booklets according to the different denominations. But there were complaints about that too.
“Some people were unhappy they had to buy separate booklets for the 40 sen and 80 sen coupons. So the two types were bundled together.
“Parking concessionaire Perkhidmatan Alam Indah Sdn Bhd made changes to the booklets a few times because there were so many different views on the matter,” he said.
To address the problem with people who rarely used 80 sen coupons, Ng said the one-hour coupons could be exchanged with the 40 sen coupons.
“Exchanging is allowed. Those who want to do that can call Alam Indah to make arrangements and check where the exchange can be made,” he said.
Ng said MBPP and the concessionaire had tried to meet the people’s demands but the use of the different coupons was due to individual needs.
“This is why we are promoting the SPG. It will allow people to pay as they park.
For details on the SPG, visit http://ift.tt/2ek5pjh.
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