The Kolkata Municipal Corporation is preparing to relaunch an app-based system to curb illegal parking, with the civic body and Kolkata Police seeking to correct the technical and enforcement weaknesses that affected an earlier plan. The proposed system is intended to make designated parking locations, fees and violations more transparent across the city.
Illegal parking remains a visible problem on Kolkata’s roads, where cars are often parked in rows on both sides of streets and two-wheelers or cars occupy footpaths. The practice reduces carriageway space, obstructs pedestrians and complicates enforcement in areas where parking demand is higher than the formally designated supply.
According to the report, the new initiative will be jointly pursued by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Kolkata Police. The civic authorities want vehicles to be parked only in approved and identified locations. Each marked parking area is expected to display its hourly fee clearly, allowing motorists to know the applicable charge before leaving their vehicles.
The plan also includes stricter identification requirements for parking personnel. Staff responsible for managing designated parking areas will be required to wear a prescribed uniform and carry a photo identity card. The municipal body has indicated that parking vehicles or motorcycles on footpaths will not be permitted.
The proposed app is expected to bring together parking information, fee details and monitoring of illegal parking. The stated objective is to improve transparency in a system that has faced longstanding allegations of financial irregularities. Although an approved list of parking locations exists, the report said that rules are frequently not followed in practice.
The latest plan follows an earlier proposal announced in December 2023 by then mayor Firhad Hakim. That system was intended to connect the transport department, the municipal corporation and Kolkata Police. Under the earlier design, information about an illegally parked vehicle would be sent to the relevant departments through the app, while a penalty message would be sent to the vehicle owner’s mobile phone using the registration number.
The earlier proposal also envisaged an escalating penalty. If the fine was not paid within seven days, the amount was expected to increase. Outstanding penalties for up to a year could also have affected the vehicle’s ability to obtain necessary clearances. However, that system did not become operational, according to the report.
The municipal corporation and police are now seeking to use the earlier experience to develop a system with fewer technical defects. The available report does not specify a launch date, the final agency responsible for operating the application, the proposed penalty schedule or how appeals against incorrect violations will be handled. Those details will determine how the technology is integrated with on-ground enforcement.
The next phase will involve finalising the revised parking system, approved parking locations, fee displays, enforcement procedures and the technical links between the civic body and police. The authorities have not announced a confirmed date for the app’s launch.
