MUMBAI: The BMC plans to introduce variable parking rates in the city. It is working on a new policy to revise parking rates and make them area-specific. The rates will be higher in areas like Nariman Point where there is a greater demand for parking.

In the same policy, the BMC is also looking at fining vehicle owners who park illegally. People manning parking lots would be given handheld devices with inbuilt cameras with which they will be able to take pictures of illegally parked vehicles and also note their numbers. If it would be impossible to recover the penalty from the vehicle owner on the spot, the data could be sent to the regional transport office, which would be able to recover the fine once the owner came to renew the vehicle’s registration.

“We are in the process of finalizing a new parking policy, in which a lot of things will be worked out to minimize illegal parking,” said additional municipal commissioner Aseem Gupta; the number of parking and no-parking zones in the city would be revised and areas looked at where public parking lots can be opened.

There are approximately 6.5 lakh cars in the city and over 14 lakh two wheelers. But the number of public parking lots is a mere 93.

On Thursday, the BMC made a presentation to standing committee members on how the hi-tech web-based parking system would work. Printed receipts will be generated by the handheld device. The data of the receipts will be transferred to the central BMC server. The system includes an option to book parking slots online.

The system failed to impress corporators, who said they would take a decision once the BMC was ready with the new parking policy.