City lost Sh238 million in parking revenue due to defaulters, says report

The county government lost Sh238 million in parking revenue because of defaulters in the 2015/2016 financial year, a report has said.

The county assembly's public accounts committee, which exposed the loss, recommended that the administration set up an in-house automated system to monitor clamping and unclamping of vehicles.

The report, which was approved by the assembly on May 3, also recommended the enactment of a law on parking before the end of August.

In an earlier investigation, Auditor General Edward Ouko had revealed that 2,117,165 vehicles were eligible to pay parking fees at the designated on-street parking lots but only 1,321,565 motorists paid.

This means that approximately 795,600 motorists defaulted on payment, denying City Hall millions in revenue.

The county treasury explained that lack of adequate towing equipment had hindered effective service delivery.

“The current towing vehicles cannot be used to tow automatic vehicles, which make up the bulk of vehicles parked. Thus we end up unclamping non-compliant vehicles to avoid vandalism of clamps,” stated the report.

The treasury also pointed out that lack of sufficient clamps was a major hindrance to enforcing parking rules and nabbing defaulters.

The committee further said that out 27,358 vehicles clamped over non-compliance, 10,672 were released without any payment or penalties.

In another development, city motorists could start enjoying reduced parking fees of Sh200 from September if the county assembly amends the finance bill.