City Hall engages new operators to streamline compliance, generate income
KUALA Lumpur is no longer a haven for those who have been able to avoid paying a fee for street parking.
With four new parking operators appointed to manage the city’s 59,000 street parking bays, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) is ramping up enforcement.
Areas where parking fee was not imposed for years are now under scrutiny as DBKL plans to enforce the law to its fullest.
Eyes on streets: A parking personnel scanning vehicles’ registration numbers in Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park, Kuala Lumpur, to check if motorists have paid for use of bays. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
This includes zoning in on motorists monopolising bays for extended periods, abandoning vehicles at parking spots or occupying them for commercial purposes.
Entrepreneurs trading from these bays as well as business owners placing tables and chairs on parking areas will not be spared.
Indicators of what is to come are evident in the numerous signboards and banners displayed across commercial, industrial, and residential areas in the city.
DBKL has given notice on this matter via its social media pages.
However, the most visible sign of enforcement is the presence of parking personnel wearing City Hall vests.
A parking operator scanning a vehicle in a busy commercial area in Taman Desa, KL. The operator is using an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) device as part of DBKL’s citywide enforcement initiative. — Photos: ART CHEN, YAP CHEE HONG and AZLINA ABDULLAH/The Star
These personnel, appointed to monitor specific zones, use scanning devices as part of their operations.
Equipped with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) devices, operators scan vehicles parked on the streets.
Any vehicle without a valid parking ticket is flagged and details passed on to the nearby DBKL enforcement team, who will issue summonses.
With these measures in place, DBKL is aiming to ensure parking regulations in the city are adhered to.
Effective use of resources
Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Maimunah Mohd Sharif described the operators as managers overseeing the parking system, while DBKL remained in control of the operations.
“All four operators will be responsible for managing 59,000 street parking bays in the city, with one operator managing 31,000 bays, another 12,000, and the remaining two 8,000 each.
“Their job is to collect the data and pass it to enforcement officers appointed to supervise the areas,” she added.
Maimunah said managing parking across 160 areas and 820 roads in Kuala Lumpur between 7.30am and 6pm, required highly efficient manpower.
Maimunah described the operators as parking managers with DBKL in control.
“Our enforcement officers cannot be expected to patrol every road to manage parking when they have other critical enforcement duties to attend to.
“This system allows us to allocate resources more effectively.
“By privatising parking fee collection, we aim to have an efficient parking management system and to educate the public on their responsibility to pay for parking.
“It’s about fostering accountability while ensuring smoother operations,” she said.
Banners explaining the parking charges and how to pay can be seen in Kuala Lumpur including in Kuchai Lama.
Maimunah said DBKL hoped to collaborate with the police and Road Transport Department (JPJ) to integrate local authority summonses into their database.
“This will ensure that individuals who fail to pay their parking dues will need to settle outstanding summonses before renewing their road tax or licence,” she said.
“I have suggested this to the police, and plan to discuss it with JPJ as well.
“Having such a system in place will help us manage parking more effectively.”
System explained
DBKL Finance Department director Azlina Mohd Saad said prior to DBKL taking over the parking management in October 2020, the task had been privatised to a company called Vista Summerose.
The company managed the city’s parking bays from 2016 to September 2020.
Following the end of the contract, DBKL assumed direct management of all 59,000 parking bays, she added.
Azlina said enforcement was lax in many areas during certain periods like the Covid-19 pandemic, as DBKL was short-staffed.
This resulted in traffic congestion and increase in safety hazards, while parking space became scarce.
Azlina: Profits from collections will be shared with the appointed operators.
She said in July last year, DBKL appointed four companies to manage the parking system.
It is learnt that the companies started operations last October.
“Previously, Vista Summerose paid us a minimum monthly fee of RM600,000, with additional payments when the company collected higher revenues.
“During this period, DBKL’s revenue from parking often reached RM1mil a month,” Azlina said, adding that last year’s revenue collected from parking was RM1.9mil.
Under the new arrangement, parking collections will be handed over to DBKL with profits being shared with the appointed operators.
However, Azlina declined to reveal the amount of payment that will go to the operators.
A parking operator using the ANPR device to scan vehicles for unpaid parking fees at a busy commercial area in Taman Desa.
The four DBKL departments managing parking in Kuala Lumpur are its Finance Department (roadside parking), Licensing and Business Development Department (private parking facilities), Valuation and Property Management Department (multi-level parking facilities), and Community Development and Urban Well-Being Department (multi-level carparks in People’s Housing Projects).
On parking revenue collection, Azlina said it had been inconsistent since DBKL took over parking management in 2020, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic when various exemptions and discounts were offered to the public, resulting in significantly lower collections.
“This is why we decided that outsourcing parking management was necessary. Since appointing the parking operators last year, DBKL has collected RM1.9mil in parking revenue.
“However, it is important to note that this figure represents gross revenue before deductions to the operators,” she explained.
Beneficial system
DBKL Enforcement Department director Mohd Muzammer Jamaluddin said motorists needed to look at the move as an awareness exercise instead of a punitive measure.
“Ninety traffic enforcement officers working with private operators will provide data to issue summonses across the city.
“These officers are responsible for enforcing parking regulations. To enhance visibility, the personnel will also wear vests bearing the DBKL logo.
“The idea is simple – when people see enforcement officers on the ground, they’re more likely to pay for parking,” he said.
“Visibility is key. If no one sees a parking officer, there’s less urgency to comply.
A close-up of the ANPR device used by parking operators that will send data directly to DBKL enforcers.
“By having our officers out there, it not only encourages compliance but also reassures the public that enforcement is actively taking place.”
Mohd Muzammer reiterated that DBKL had the authority to collect fees for any parking bay in the city in accordance with Road Transport (Provision of Parking Places) Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Order 2016.
In DBKL’s 2025 budget presentation, the local authority posted a projected revenue, expected from parking, at 1.41%, amounting to RM34.12mil for this year.
The income is expected to come from the management of public parking spaces including fees collected from on-street parking bays, carparks and any enforcement activities such as penalties for unpaid parking .
According to data provided by DBKL, on-street parking fees previously generated an average revenue of RM1mil per month, totalling RM12mil annually.
Parking-related fines contributed an additional RM250,000 per month, amounting to RM3mil annually while multi-storey carparks under DBKL’s supervision brought in RM2.02mil annually.
Although a relatively small portion compared to assessment taxes and planning fees, parking still plays an important role in generating income for the city.
