The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is developing a time-based electronic parking system at seven locations across Islamabad to digitally monitor how long vehicles remain parked and calculate parking charges.
CDA officials informed the Senate Standing Committee on Interior that work on the project is currently underway. Under the proposed system, vehicle parking duration will be recorded digitally through an electronic dashboard, allowing the authority to monitor parking time and applicable fees.
Senator Naseema Ehsan said Islamabad had also started working on a traffic management system similar to the one introduced in Karachi. She pointed out that residents and visitors often face difficulties finding parking spaces, particularly as people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and other provinces regularly live in or visit the capital.
CDA Director General Enforcement Anum Fatima told the committee that the Blue Area parking plaza has been completed and is expected to help reduce parking problems in the area. She said parking charges were being collected according to the CDA-approved layout plan, while cashless payments and QR codes are available at parking facilities.
However, Senator Abid Sher Ali questioned the CDA’s current parking arrangements, noting that parking fees are still being collected on roads despite the completion of the Blue Area parking plaza.
He called the two positions contradictory and sought clarification from the CDA Chairman regarding parking arrangements in newly developed plazas.
Sher Ali also proposed that new plazas should not receive a No Objection Certificate (NOC) unless they include sufficient underground parking facilities, aiming to ensure adequate parking capacity in future developments.