Update 9 April 2018: Motorists will soon be able to pay for parking in Petaling Jaya via parking coupon, or the Smart Selangor Parking mobile app, which will be available for download from April 23. The pay-and-display machines will no longer be in use.

If you’ve been to anywhere in Petaling Jaya these few days, chances are you’ve noticed the many parking ticket machines wrapped in cling wrap like bak chang (glutinous rice dumplings) at various public parking areas. There have also been banners placed around public parking spaces announcing the new coupon parking system. However, it seems that many people are unaware that a new parking system is in town. Or rather, an alternative parking payment system.

Example 1
“Aiyo, how to pay for parking like that? Later no parking ticket kena saman pulak,” an uncle grumbles when trying to locate a parking ticket machine this morning. A young man standing nearby tells him, “Uncle, parking in PJ now have to use coupon already!”

Normal reaction

While we were all enjoying the extra-long Merdeka weekend, news that the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) had started implementing the scratch-and-display parking coupon system in September largely flew under the radar of most residents, especially since there did not seem to be much news or promotion about the new system in the weeks leading up to today.

Example 2
Imagine if you’re a salesperson or property agent going for a client meeting in Petaling Jaya on Tuesday. You park your car in a public parking spot as usual, but the parking ticket machines can’t be used, and there’s nowhere nearby you can buy the new parking coupons. You have no choice but to leave you car there without a valid parking ticket, and come back to a long, white compound (saman) fluttering in the wind under your car wipers.

Faster than you can say “Alamak!”

The coupon parking system is supposed to be “an alternative to the tickets from the parking machines”. Since MBPJ has started implementing the new parking coupon system, it stands to reason that the coupons should be sold in many places, particularly busy commercial areas, petrol stations and convenience stores, so that motorists can easily purchase them. However, the reality is these parking coupons are proving to be highly elusive, and members of the public are finding it difficult to get their hands on one.

The frustration!

Just this past weekend, I was out for lunch with family and found a nice parking spot in PJ Old Town. It was a public holiday, so parking was free, but we noticed that all of the parking machines in the area were wrapped up, rendering them unusable. All of the shops nearby did not sell the new parking coupons, so we wondered how the people who came to work the next day (Sept 5) would cope.

Well, it turns out that the folks at MBPJ are pretty understanding of the situation. “MBPJ will go easy on enforcement in areas where there are are no coupon agents and faulty parking machines,” said MBPJ councillor Jamaliah Jamaluddin. If there are faulty machines in an area and no coupon agents based there, MBPJ officers will not issue a summons.

Thanks, good guy MBPJ!

Among the areas where there are no parking coupon agents listed (yet) are commercial areas such as SS2, PJ State, Seapark and Taman Paramount. Motorists who get summons in such areas should be able to get their summons cancelled by providing information such as street name or location of the point of issue to get the summons cancelled at MBPJ’s headquarters. Not a perfect solution, but an acceptable one for the moment, I guess.

So, the big question is, where can we buy the new parking coupons? As of today (6 September 2017), only 16 agents in various locations around Selangor have been listed by MBPJ as authorised agents selling the parking coupons and monthly passes.

The full list of vendors can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/2fz1LWK

The info’s all up there.

So there you go. The parking machines – provided they are still in service – are still a valid form of payment for public parking spots, while the scratch-and-display coupons can also be used if you are able to get your hands on them. If there are no parking coupon agents nearby, or the surrounding parking ticket machines are faulty, make sure to note down the time, date, and location where you parked your car, so that you are able to get your compound waived if you kena saman.

(We will try to update the information and link above if further information is provided.)