THE hassle of paying for parking may soon be a thing of the past as the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) seeks to go smart with the introduction of a cashless parking payment system.
The council is in the process of initiating an e-payment method which will allow motorists to pay their parking fee for public bays via their smartphones.
If all goes well, the system is set to be tested out in a pilot project in the next three months.
Having replaced its pay-and-display method to a coupon parking system on Jan 1, council president Abdul Hamid Abdul Hussain said the pay-by-phone parking would complement the current system.
“If the e-system takes off, motorists will have an alternative method to pay for their parking.
“It will be very convenient for users, without having to look for shops to buy parking coupons.
“The mobile application is also able to send an alert to users that their parking period is ending and they can immediately do a ‘top up’ through the app without rushing to their vehicles.
“Each time users use the app, the information will be made available to the enforcement officers on duty in the relevant area.
“The officers can check their mobile device and verify the number plate with the parked vehicle,” Abdul Hamid explained.
He added that the pilot project would be implemented in the Ampang Point area by April.
Coupon Parking System
StarMetro spoke to several residents and business owners about the coupon parking system implemented in Ampang Jaya from Jan 1. Some welcomed the method while others gave the thumbs down.
Resident V. Jayanthi, 45, found the new method more convenient.
“Before this, I would have to search for a functioning pay-and-display machine and it would oftentimes be far from my car.
“Now, all I need to do is keep a stack of the parking coupons in my car, scratch out the relevant details and display it,” she said.
However, Jayanthi said more ticketing agents were needed, especially in Taman Melawati.
“There are only a handful of agents here and most of them run out of the scratch cards quite quickly,” she said.
Her sentiments were echoed by several stakeholders who said they had trouble sourcing the coupons.
Pandan Jaya resident Mohd Arif Affendi, 23, said it was a hassle having to look for a shop selling the parking coupons.
“I have been to several shops to ask if they are selling them, and most do not.
“Even if they are agents, they say they have run out,” he vented.
A ticketing agent, who only wanted to be identified as Chan, said he only bought the minimum number of booklets.
“As I was not sure how receptive people would be to the new method, I stocked the minimum number of 100 booklets. Surprisingly, they were quickly snapped up.
“Although I have ordered more, I was told by MPAJ that it would take some time as there were not enough in stock,” he said.
Abdul Hamid acknowledged that there were still several issues to be ironed out.
“We have been getting complaints that there are ticketing agents who refuse to sell individual cards but the whole booklets.
“But, we are monitoring them and those who continue to disobey will have their registrations revoked,” he said.
Despite setbacks, he said the council had seen a significant rise in its parking collection over the past two weeks.
“As of Jan 19, we collected RM549,237 in payment, while we only received RM110,000 every month using the previous operator,” he said.
“While the overall response have been positive, we are continuously working on increasing the number of agents.
“Starting February, agents will be able to purchase the scratch cards online or either through SMS and WhatsApp. At present, our Parking Unit are doing coupon delivery to the agents up to four times a day,” he said.
He said the agents would include convenience stores and petrol stations starting next month.
MPAJ statistics showed as of Jan 20, there were 303 ticketing agents in 18 areas, with Cempaka having the highest number at 100 agents, followed by Lembah Jaya (69), Hulu Kelang (66), Bukit Antarabangsa (37) and Teratai (31).
Related story:
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
