MOTORISTS most often caught with insufficient small coins in their pockets for parking meters could soon breathe a sigh of relief with plans to introduce electronic payments.
A proposal to introduce a new electronic payment system was approved unanimously by the Capital Trustees Board at a meeting at the Capital Trustees Authority in Manama yesterday.
Spearheaded by the board’s financial, administrative and legislative committee chairman Mohammed Al Abbas, the proposal will now be reviewed by Works Minister Ibrahim Al Hawaj.
Motorists face a BD50 fine for improper parking or pay-and-display indiscretions, although the cost is cut by half providing the payment is made within seven days of the registered offence.
On-street parking is charged at 100 fils per 30 minutes, from 7am until 7pm, with a maximum of two-hour stay allowed.
The lack of coins in pockets, purses and wallets has resulted in many people boycotting shopping areas where parking meters are present in Manama, Gudaibiya, Hoora, Muharraq, Isa Town and Riffa.
However, the board members added that the proposed system would complement the existing system, and would not be a replacement.
“The proposal intends to introduce an electronic payment system, whether through a dedicated smart phone application, BenefitPay or any other digital money transfer methods including credit and debit cards,” said Mr Al Abbas.
“The e-parking ticket system would operate differently from the conventional method; motorists would have to enter their number plate, choose the time from an hour to 24 hours. This information will appear on a traffic police vehicle’s electronic dashboard,” he explained.
“So, there is no need to print a receipt and place it on the vehicle’s windshield or in a visible place.
“The new system will give people a more comfortable shopping experience that wouldn’t involve moving large distances to beat the clock and return to put more coins should additional time be necessary.”
Mr Al Abbas added that the smart parking meters were now operational in the UAE, helping reduce traffic violations.
Earlier, Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry Work Affairs Under-Secretary Ahmed Al Khayat, who is now Urban Planning and Development Authority chief executive, had suggested a system allowing people to pay for parking using BenefitPay or a custom-made app.
Meanwhile, MP Bader Al Tamimi, who is a former municipal council chairman, said since 2020 he has been hearing that implementation was ‘around the corner’.
“I asked for a study on the electronic payment system as a council chairman during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and we received a response more than a year later, in June 2021, that implementation was around the corner,” he said.
“It is 11 months since I became an MP and it seems that corner is still far away.”
He added that the issue brought up by the ministry, of shop workers and company employees taking unfair advantage by filling up parking spaces for long periods and preventing others from using them, could be easily resolved.
“The two-hour limit is there to ensure everyone benefits from parking spaces; an electronic alert would sound if someone was breaking the rules through computerised registration,” said Mr Al Tamimi.
“Again, the 7am to 7pm timing is inapplicable during Ramadan because shops are either closed then or customers just come after Iftar,” he explained.
“The timings could be adjustable through an application from which people can choose and then pay – should it be a free-parking time, then the application wouldn’t charge.
“Smart concepts are already being added to BenefitPay and this could be one of them.”
In May 2022, Oman started a phone parking system despite Bahrain being the first GCC country to announce the concept.
Muharraq Municipal Council financial, administrative and legislative committee chairman Mohammed Al Mahmood said the concept was simple, and wondered why its implementation has dragged on for years.
“It shouldn’t take that much to present a study on digitalising parking meters, when it took just a few weeks to introduce BenefitPay. It now plays a part in daily shopping habits, filling up petrol, paying bills and making charitable donations,” he said.
“Most people can’t go around searching for coins, especially the elderly and those with disabilities. They could easily pay using mobile phones.
“It is also difficult to rush from one end of the Old Muharraq Suq to the other just to find coins and, hopefully, get back in time to avoid being issued a fine.”
The Pay and Display meters cover 2,400 car parking areas located on nine trade roads across the country. Each solar-powered device covers 15 car parking spaces at a time.
The high-tech machines, which are computer-programmable, have been designed for payment by coins.
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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