A QR code-based digital payment system was inaugurated at a parking area in New Town earlier this week.
The system — where motorists can pay either using mobile wallets or FasTags fitted on their windshields — has been activated at the parking lot opposite the New Town Business Park near the New Town bus stand as a pilot project.
The parking lot can accommodate more than 50 cars and a similar number of two-wheelers, an official of the New Town Kolkata Development (NKDA) said.
According to the official, until now motorists had to pay cash to use the parking lot.
At New Town, the parking rates are Rs 20 an hour for cars and Rs 10 an hour for two-wheelers.
There are around 15 fee parking zones in New Town. The NKDA plans to implement the system at all the parking lots, the official said.
The new mode of accepting parking fees was inaugurated by the joint secretary and mission director of the Smart Cities Mission in Delhi, Kunal Kumar, along with senior NKDA and Hidco officials.
“This system shall improve the overall efficiency of the parking lots. The RFID tags installed on vehicles and RFID readers at entry and exit points will detect and record entry and exit times. The digital payment methods simplify the process,” said the official.
Command centre
Apart from enabling this digital and FASTag payment-enabled parking lot, the NKDA has opened a control and command centre for the management and handling of the day-to-day handling services in the New Town.
The command centre will receive real-time data from the teams on the ground. The officials posted here will monitor the status based on a real-time data feed generated from the CCTV cameras as well as data loggers fitted on vehicles, including solid waste management trucks, ambulances and road sweeping vehicles.
