Owning a car and being able to commute to any part of the city being a Karachiite sometimes feels like a liability rather than a facility. Taking your car out can be a nightmare when you hit the inevitable broken roads, frustrating traffic jams, violation of traffic rules, or illegal, charged parking spots.
Whether you go to a shopping mall, cinema, food place or hospital in Karachi, as soon as you reach your destination in your car or motorbike, a man will appear from nowhere, hand you a small piece of paper asking for parking fee. Clad usually in a shalwar kameez with a handkerchief hanging over his shoulder, sometimes he will just ask for money without any receipt in his hand. The rising number of charged parking spots cause frustration for Karachiites, who are dealing with a multitude of issues including unregulated costs, corruption, and difficulty.
For many drivers, obtaining a parking spot has turned from being a straightforward process to one that is time-consuming and expensive. “I was deployed at a bank from my office in Saddar and the bank doesn’t have its own parking area but the building has a nearby plot where they accommodate cars and motorbikes for a parking fee,” said Syed Azeem, an IT professional. He has been paying 100 rupees per day for parking in that lot. He also said that the building he goes to work in is a commercial building and has many customers walk in daily. Providing a parking space for such customers amounts to a regular business. “They have also options for people like me who go daily for work, charging 500 rupees a week and 2,500 rupees a month packages because sometimes one doesn’t have a 100-rupee note,” he added.
Azeem is like the millions of Karachi residents who are part of this every day grind. The most overcrowded spaces such as Saddar and Tariq Road are hubs of illegal parking spots. Parking places that charge for entry have increased around the city, especially in commercial areas like Clifton, Tariq Road, and Saddar, with little to no regulation. Frequently, parking contractors put drivers at risk by charging them exorbitant rates. Although the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has established standard tariffs, there is no transparency surrounding the use of the money collected in various districts, which charge higher rates. “KMC has 46 designated spots and the list is available online on the website for the public. The charges are 30 rupees for a car and 10 rupees for a motorbike but we do hear many complaints about extra charges and we take immediate action against the culprits too,” Nabeel Baloch, director of charged parking, told The Express Tribune.
Working in a shop on Jamshed Road, Nadeem Ahmed has to go to Tariq Road every alternate day. "I parked my car on Tariq Road for just half an hour and was asked to pay 100 rupees by a man who was wearing a neon jacket with red strips claiming to be a KMC employee. Upon demanding a receipt he told me the receipt book is finished,” said Ahmed. “There is no official rate list or paperwork that they have in hand. It is just whatever the attendant feels like charging,” he lamented.
Additionally, there's always the worry that something might happen to your car if you refuse to pay up. “We have heard of incidents where the cars get stolen in broad daylight so we think paying 100 is better than losing an asset,” he added.
The city and its parking dilemma have been divided into several parts such as KMC, Cantonment Boards, and now District Municipal Corporations (DMC) turned into Town Municipal Corporations (TMCs). Due to these jurisdictions and divisions, one can hardly recognise legal and illegal charging spots in the city. “For example, you are at a spot that is not under KMC or any cantonment but there are more than 25 TMCs, how many can you keep a check on if it is illegal or legal,” questioned Shamshad Ali who is a contractor in central district, adding that it gets difficult for even them sometimes because corruption has become widespread due to a lack of regulation. Unofficial parking attendants who have taken over many spaces in crowded areas are a common source of complaints from drivers. These people, who often operate without authorisation, make outrageous demands and threaten to cause damage to automobiles if their requests are not fulfilled. “Because of all the illegal attendants, people like us who are contractors from KMC face severe backlash,” Ali added.
Local mafias in certain places control the parking spaces, making it very difficult for the police to become involved. Iqra Saleem, who works in an office in Clifton, said, “They will scratch your car or deflate your tires if you don't pay the full amount they demand. I have seen a guy scratching someone’s car with a key. Just imagine how much would that cost to get it fixed,”
According to Baloch, complaints such as misbehaving, damaging the vehicles, or demanding extra money are dealt with seriously and, in many cases, contracts are also canceled for such contractors. “When we receive a complaint about anyone, we take immediate action because we already have issued notifications stating designated spots and charging fees. So any violation reported is taken seriously,” said Baloch.
Increased traffic congestion is also a result of the paid parking system. The process of locating a parking space and following the attendants slows down traffic in places like Saddar, further congesting already clogged arteries. Furthermore, because there is little parking infrastructure, cars are frequently parked carelessly, obstructing walkways and endangering the safety of pedestrians. Cars are forced to overflow onto busy streets when there are no allocated parking places, which causes traffic delays and accidents. “If you visit the Saddar mobile market between 4-8 pm you will understand what a disaster our parking system is. There are three or four rows of bikes parked on the main road due to which traffic can hardly flow. But what options do we have when there is no proper parking spot nearby,” said Jaffar Ali, an owner of a mobile shop in the market. He also shared that now when any old customer comes, he helps them park and is acquainted with the area's parking attendants. “I never go to Saddar in my car or bike. I always use rickshaw or ride-hailing services as finding parking is a battle in itself,” said Ahmed.
The irregular enforcement of parking laws adds to the issue. Authorities frequently ignore automobiles that are parked illegally in no-parking zones, even if some are charged for parking. Law-abiding drivers feel punished for obeying the law while others get away with it, which has contributed to frustration among the residents. “There is no justice in the way the system operates. Depending on who is in charge of the parking lot that day, I either pay or don't pay,” said Ali.
The increasing trend of priced parking has also had an impact on nearby commercial areas. “Consumers are less likely to visit stores in locations with difficult to find parking. Small businesses have suffered as a result, particularly in places like Saddar and Tariq Road where parking is scarce,” he explained.
The city of Karachi needs to reconsider its parking management strategy. Illegally charging people left and right instead of expanding the number of parking spaces or simplifying the system points to yet another failure of civic planning. It damages businesses and turns away clients too. The lack of accountability for the money collected from paid parking is a cause for concern. Parking taxes bring in a sizeable amount of money, but there's little proof that these funds are being used to upgrade the city's public transportation system or parking infrastructure.
Many locals are left wondering where the funds are going. “Parking on public paths is costing us money, but we don't see any changes. The roads are still in poor condition, and no new parking lots are being built,” said Saleem.
Disappointment increases as the number of chsrged parking spaces keeps rising. Residents of Karachi are demanding improved regulations, more transparency, and the creation of a parking structure that meets the demands of city drivers rather than taking advantage of them.