​An earlier version of this report mistakenly mentioned the parking fee for the island city as Rs. 18,000 instead of Rs. 1,800. It has since been corrected.The road outside your housing society is not your free car park any longer.Under its recently revised parking policy, which was cleared by the all-powerful Improvements Committee on Thursday, the BMC has decided to start charging car owners for parking on roads outside their housing colonies.The rates will vary from area to area. The proposed residential parking rate for the island city - Colaba to Mahim - for instance is a steep Rs 1,800 a month per car. This rate, however, may again vary for areas with lower demand for car parking slots from areas with high demand.The corresponding rates for western and eastern suburbs are Rs 1200 and Rs 600 per month per car.The new parking plan, which is scheduled for roll-out in November next year, will be preceded by a survey. The survey will not only map residential areas for demand for parking slots to help BMC decide rates, it will also select streets and design the parking slots. “The consultant will advise us on the design of parking slots – double lane, single lane, both sides of the road or only one side, angular parking or straight line parking. He will, of course, have to back it up with data on demand for parking spaces,” said a BMC official who did not wish to be identified.Additional Municipal Commissioner SVR Shrinivasan said the new parking plan for residential areas is not aimed at generating revenue for the municipal corporation. “The focus is and should be on smooth flow of traffic. Currently, there is far too much of random, haphazard parking creating traffic bottlenecks,” he said.Once the new plan is in place, car owners will be able to buy parking space on roads outside their housing colonies directly from ward offices. All they will have to do is produce registration papers of their vehicle and residential proof and, of course, pay the monthly fee to book a parking lot.But one of the major concerns of car owners is that once a parking slot is booked, who will make sure it is available at all hours to the person who paid for it? “If the BMC is going to implement the scheme, then it will have to ensure that the allotted space is protected. No car owner should have to fight with people after paying BMC for his car park,” said Meher Sanjana, a resident of Colaba.Sakina Rangwala, another resident of Byculla, said new residential parking policy is a welcome move. “I park my car at a petrol pump for Rs 4,000 per month. I wouldn’t mind paying BMC for it. But once I have booked my space, it should be protected,” she said.Shrinivasan said that the security guards of housing societies will be empowered to manage the car parks. “Of course, there will be mechanism to toe way the illegally parked cars. We will also impose steep penalties for illegal parking,” he said.Kushang Patel, a resident of Andheri (west), said he would happily pay for spot to park his car outside his housing society. “There is never space to park our cars near our housing society. People from other areas park on the road near our society. So it is good if the BMC is providing me a space to park my car,” he said.BJP corporator Advocate Gyanmurti Sharma said the new policy will make owning a car unaffordable. “It is very difficult for a middle class family such steep monthly rents for a parking lot. The BMC have to reconsider it,” he said.Meanwhile, the BMC has decided to make parking free of cost at tourist spots on Sunday and public holidays. The decision was taken to promote tourism.There is also a move to use parking lots in malls and cinema halls after their closing hours for parking neighbourhood cars. “We are talking to malls and cinema halls. It can be a new source of revenue for them,” said Shrinivasan.