Want to park your vehicle close to your shopping complex? Pay more. No choice, available parking lot far away? Pay less.

Doing away with existing uniform rates, this month, East Singhbhum district administration has decided to start a system of variable parking fees in Jamshedpur's posh commercial hub Bistupur.

From September last week, the distance of your shopping destination will matter in Bistupur, at least when it comes to forking out parking fees local urban body, Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC).

The DC's office on Friday also decided on upper and lower limits of the variable parking rates.

Depending on distance between parking lot and destination, parking fees for four-wheelers will vary between Rs 5 and Rs 15; three-wheelers between Rs 3 and Rs 7 and two-wheelers between Rs 2 and Rs 5. So far, for any of the three parking lots you used in Bistupur, rates were the same, Rs 5, Rs 3 and Rs 2 for four-wheelers, three-wheelers (auto-rickshaws) and two-wheelers, no matter where your destination.

Another meeting at the DC's office will now held on Saturday to fine-tune these rates for individual cases.

"In principle, we have decided to give shoppers incentives for parking their vehicle at a distance and walking to their preferred shopping centres," JNAC special officer Dipak Sahay said.

"We started with Bistupur on a pilot basis. Similar variable parking fee rates would be fixed at other commercial centres of the city, including Sakchi, Golmuri, Kadma and Sonari, in due course," Sahay added.

Also, apart from the three old parking lots, behind Bank of Baroda, near Tilak Pustakalaya and near Hotel Boulevard on Bistupur Main Road, two more will come up on prime areas that were recently cleared of unauthorised vendors, in front of Kamani Center near Fakira and the Bank of Baroda.

Jusco would make a dedicated car park zone in front of the Bank of Baroda stretch. Autos have their parking zone near Kamani Center.

Dhalbhum SDO Alok Kumar said more vacant spots would be developed into parking areas once the anti-encroachment drive got over.

"The anti-encroachment drive will continue in Bistupur till all unauthorised extensions and illegal structures are demolished. We have seen that after anti-encroachment drive vacant spots are again taken over by squatters under political patronage. This time, we do not want to give them any chance. We will convert cleared spaces into parking zones as soon as possible," said Alok Kumar.

"We are also toying with the idea of developing a food vendor zone near Gopal Maidan," SDO Kumar said, referring to another spot that got free of encroachment after the recent drives in Bistupur.

Are you happy with the new parking fee system? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com