Pune: As Pune grapples with a growing number of vehicles and an increasing demand for parking spaces, the city's proposed "Pay and Park" system remains in limbo.

Despite being submitted to the state government in July, the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) proposal to introduce paid parking on six major roads has not yet received approval.

In 2018, the PMC decided to address this issue by implementing a "Pay and Park" system on major roads, with the intention of streamlining parking and alleviating congestion. Under the proposed system, roads would be divided into three zones based on traffic intensity: Zone "A" (low traffic), Zone "B" (medium traffic), and Zone "C" (high traffic).

Each zone would have different parking rates: in Zone A, four-wheelers would be charged ₹10 per hour and two-wheelers ₹2 per hour; in Zone B, four-wheelers would be charged ₹15 per hour and two-wheelers ₹3 per hour; and in Zone C, four-wheelers would be charged ₹20 per hour and two-wheelers ₹4 per hour.

A committee, chaired by the Mayor and comprising party leaders, was formed to decide which roads would be included in the "Pay and Park" system, but this committee has yet to meet.

The delays were further prolonged by the 2019 state assembly elections and the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed the decision-making process further back.

Local organizations, frustrated by the lack of action, raised complaints with the state government. In response, the Urban Development Department wrote to the PMC, inquiring about the delay in implementing the parking policy.

Based on this, the PMC sent a letter to the Principal Secretary of the State Urban Development Department on July 15, requesting swift approval of the policy.

The proposed "Pay and Park" system is intended to be introduced on six major roads across Pune: Jangli Maharaj (JM) Road, Namdar Gopal Krishna Gokhale (FC) Road, North Main Road (Lanes 5, 6, and 7), Aundh DP Road and its adjoining areas, Balewadi High Street, and Viman Nagar.