Other e-payments to be added in future
Parking meters for street parking spaces since Monday no longer accept coins, and now drivers can only pay their street parking fees by Macau Pass cards or UnionPay QuickPass cards, while the government has said that in the near future street parking spaces will be equipped with parking meters that also accept various other e-payments.
Before Monday, parking meters for street parking spaces had accepted coins, as well as two types of e-payments, namely Macau Pass and UnionPay QuickPass.
The government has underlined most drivers have normally paid their street parking fees with e-payments, while parking meters accepting coins needed higher operations and maintenance costs.
The measure has been implemented in compliance with a new law regulating public parking which was promulgated in the Official Gazette (BO) on Friday.
While the new law will only take effect on August 1, the rule that street parking fees can only be paid by e-payment took effect on May 1.
The public-parking bill was passed during a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly (AL) two weeks ago when it was voted on article-by-article in its second and final reading. The bill had been reviewed by a standing committee of the legislature after its outline was passed during a plenary session in October last year.
The new public-parking law replaces the previous public-parking administration regulation (by-law) which was promulgated in 2003.
According to the new law, public parking services comprise public car parks and parking spaces on public roads.
The new law stipulates that parking fees for street parking spaces can only be paid by e-payment, the law’s only rule that took effect on Monday. All other rules of the law will take effect on August 1.
According to the new law, parking fees for public car parks can be paid for in cash or by using e-payment. However, the government can draw up regulations on the use and operations of certain public car parks stipulating that their parking fees can also only be paid for using an e-payment, which means that the government can earmark certain public car parks to only accept e-payments.
In compliance with the new measure that took effect on Monday, the government has now sealed the coin slots of all street parking meters.
The government has indicated that around 88 percent of drivers had paid their street parking fees with e-payments, while the remaining 12 percent had paid with coins.
The government has also indicated that around 85 percent of drivers paying their street parking fees with e-payments have paid with Macau Pass cards, while the others have paid with their UnionPay QuickPass cards.
Transport Bureau (DSAT) Director Kelvin Lam Hin San told reporters on Monday that the government will launch a public tender later this year for a new agreement on operating street parking meters, adding that the government will require the new operator to add various other e-payments to the city’s street parking meters.
A man walks past parking spaces near the city’s Catholic Cathedral yesterday. – Photo: Tony Wong
