Planning to buy a new car in Maharashtra? Better show your parking papers first. Amid Mumbai’s spiraling traffic and parking chaos,
Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik said that new vehicle registrations will now require proof of a parking space.
The directive follows a state-level meeting on Monday aimed at addressing the Mumbai Metropolitan Region’s (MMR) worsening parking crunch. “We will not register new vehicles if the buyer doesn’t have a certificate of parking space allotment from the concerned civic body,” Sarnaik was quoted as saying in an India Today report, signaling a major policy shift designed to discourage haphazard vehicle growth in already gridlocked urban areas.
To supplement the move, the Urban Development Department is drafting permissions for constructing parking plazas beneath recreational grounds—a workaround to create space in a city where every square foot is contested.
The new proposals align with global urban norms, where car ownership is contingent on demonstrating available parking.
Mumbai, with over 47 lakh registered vehicles, including 14 lakh private cars, has one of the highest vehicle densities per kilometer in India. Yet the infrastructure has barely kept pace. Many older housing colonies lack designated parking, while new developments often underprovide due to lenient regulations. The result: a city choked with cars spilling onto roads, footpaths, and every spare inch of open space.
Multi-storey public parking structures, although built, remain underutilized—either too far from commercial hubs or poorly maintained. Meanwhile, lax regulation has allowed a “parking mafia” to flourish, charging arbitrary fees and often commandeering public lots for private or commercial use.
Sarnaik also hinted at futuristic fixes. The state is advancing plans for a pod taxi system—driverless, elevated cars on dedicated tracks—in areas like Mira-Bhayandar and Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), with potential metro linkups. “I have visited Vadodara, which is set to launch the world’s first commercially ready suspended pod-car system,” he said, suggesting Maharashtra may follow suit.
