KATHMANDU, June 26: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has mandated that commercial buildings and hospitals are no longer permitted to charge parking fees. The metropolis has introduced a new provision in its budget, ensuring that service providers, including commercial buildings and hospitals, cannot impose parking fees on customers.

Under the new regulation, commercial buildings are required to offer complimentary parking services to customers availing services within the same premises. Henceforth, hospitals, private marts, restaurants, and shopping complexes are prohibited from charging parking fees to individuals accessing their services.

Previously, such establishments had been imposing parking fees at their discretion, often exceeding the rates set by the metropolis. Notably, hospitals have been known to charge four times more than the designated parking fees within their own premises. The metropolis has taken this strict measure to address the issue.

Last year, the metropolis divided parking fees into two zones and established fixed rates. This year, the parking fee structure remains the same. Zone No. 1 encompasses areas such as New Road, Dharmapath, Kantipath, Durbarmarg, inner urban areas, Tripureshwar, Ratnapark, Bhotahiti, Kesharmahal, Lainchaur, and public roads in central Kathmandu. The charges in these zones are Rs 15 for 30 minutes and Rs 25 per hour for bikes, while cars are charged Rs 50 for 30 minutes and Rs 80 per hour.

Zone No. 2 incurs half the fee for areas not specified in Zone No. 1. In these areas, the rates are Rs 15 per hour for bikes, Rs 40 per hour for four-wheelers, and Rs 100 per hour for vehicles exceeding four-wheelers. The charges remain unchanged this year.

Within the metropolis, commercially operated vehicles, including privately owned houses, can charge a maximum rate of Rs 75 per hour for parking, with Rs 40 per half hour as the minimum charge. Additionally, two-wheelers such as bikes and scooters incur a parking fee of Rs 25 per hour or Rs 15 per half hour.

The new regulations require parking service providers to offer free parking facilities for disabled emergency service vehicles and other vehicles designated by the metropolis. However, the budget does not mention any specific provisions regarding parking fees for electric vehicles this year.