Recovering Revenue from Motorists who Evade Car Park Charges

Ms Sun Xueling asked the Minister for National Development (a) what is the possibility of collecting back the revenue lost from motorists who evade parking charges; and (b) whether new solutions are being considered to counter manipulation of the carpark system by motorists.

The process to recover parking charges involves much time and manpower resources. Nevertheless, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) will do its best in tracking down errant motorists who evade parking charges. HDB will also leverage suitable technology like CCTV to help in the process of recovering these parking charges. However, this will have to be balanced with the cost effectiveness of chasing down every errant motorist.

Going forward, HDB will make greater use of technology to help prevent evasion of car park charges and recover any loss in parking charges. In addition, HDB will be implementing more mitigating measures to reduce future tailgating instances, such as installing additional humps, to prevent motorists from following too closely behind another vehicle; putting up "No Tailgating" signboards to warn motorists; and possibly banning use of the car park by errant motorists if their outstanding charges are not paid up.

Another key strategy is to take tighter enforcement actions against errant motorists. The Parking Places Rules have been amended in July 2016 to allow immediate enforcement action against motorists who deliberately evade payment of parking charges. Recalcitrant cases will face a stiffer fine amount of up to $2,000. Such measures will raise public awareness of the seriousness of these offences and help to deter evasion of parking charges in the first place.