Parking cost at Delhi Metro stations set to double

New Delhi: Parking charges at Metro stations are set to double from March 1. Car and SUV owners will have to pay Rs 20 for parking at these lots for up to six hours while the rate for twowheelers will be Rs 10.

The hike will apply in all 97 Metro parking lots, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation announced on Friday, becoming the first agency in the city to hike parking rates in recent years. City municipal corporations have been proposing a hike in rates but haven't done so yet.

What will pinch car owners is the hike in monthly rates, which will go up from Rs 625 to Rs 1,000. For twowheelers , it will be Rs 475, up from Rs 300 at present. Car parking for more than six hours will cost Rs 30, and after 12 hours, Rs 40. Night charges will be Rs 40 as well.

Only parking charges for cycles to remain same

Parking charges at Metro stations will go up from March 1. Only parking rates for cycles — Rs 3 — will remain unchanged.

Given the shortage of parking space in the city, the Metro lots are used by a lot of vehicle owners who do not travel by Metro.

The hiked rates were already being charged at the Delhi University and Patel Chowk stations. There will be no additional hike at these lots, Metro officials said.

The Metro parking lots are managed by private operators . The total parking area around Metro stations is 2.9 lakh square metres. According to Metro estimates, these lots together can take in 18,000 four-wheelers. In reality , a lot more vehicles are parked in these lots, officials admit.

The more popular parking lots in the Delhi Metro network are HUDA City Centre, Dilshad Garden, Rithala, Dwarka and Rohini (west).

A DMRC spokesman said the revised rates were "in accordance with the proposed hike in parking rates by different civic agencies" . Sources said the hike was based on recommendations of the Bhure Lal committee. The recommendations, however, have not been implemented by any other agency.