Paid parking becoming a costly affair

As more and more areas have been included as paid parking zones in Muscat due to the increase in the number of vehicles, and to eliminate the issue of abandoning vehicles in free parking slots, many say that paid parking is becoming a costly affair.

From last year, more areas including the parking lots around the new Al Khoudh Market, behind Ooredoo Store, Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Ruwi and Sultan Qaboos Street in Al Khuwair South which is opposite commercial buildings have been made paid parking zones. As the population increases across the country, cities continue to develop and the usages of vehicles increases. Hence, the benefits of paid parking limit the people to park their vehicles for their limited time.

However, people often confuse whether certain areas are paid or free parking zones. “I was been fined for parking for just a few seconds of time. I went to a shop to buy something and was fined RO 10 in just a blink of an eye. I could not see the parking warning sign in any visibility though I confess to have seen it later,” Ali Khalfan, road commuter said.

People feel there should be some leniency. “I ended up paying RO 10 when I parked for five minutes to buy a cup of tea and I felt so bad and frustrated because some sign boards are far apart from each other and sometimes far away from where the parking zones are. I am not against any parking charges or even fines, but the sign boards must be placed big and within visibility range,” Fatmah al Naamani, another commuter said.

According to Muscat Municipality, parking fees are charged between 8 am and 1 pm and from 4 pm to 9 pm - except for Fridays, Saturdays and official holidays that are announced by the concerned authorities.

‘The users can reserve the vehicle parking via SMS by sending the number and code of the vehicle and the number of minutes required (between 30 minutes and maximum 300 minutes) to 90091,’ stated Muscat Municipality.

If the user wants to extend the time, he has to send another message to the number 90091 and follow the same previous steps. And to inquire about the remaining time, the beneficiary can send the word ‘time’ to 90091. The cost of each parking via text message is 110 baisa for 30 minutes.

With the said payments, it may be too high especially for those who work in the areas where there is only paid parking slots. However, according to the municipality, there is always a cheaper option of obtaining cheaper monthly payments.