A parking area on the roadside of Trương Định Street in HCM City’s District 1. — VNS Photo Ngọc Diệp

HCM CITY — The HCM City-based Voluntary Youth Public Benefit Service Company (BESCO) will temporarily replace the staff in charge of the management of public parking spaces and collection of road-use fees in districts 1, 5 and 10 until the city organises a bid to select a new technology solution provider.

The handover of BESCO’s staff and equipment to People's Committees in these three districts must be completed before May 1, according to the city’s Department of Transport.

The new process, which will ensure road safety, security and order, is expected to increase the number of fee collections and shorten the time needed for collection in these three districts, which are part of a pilot fee-collection programme that could be expanded to the rest of the city.

Staff in these three districts currently guide drivers in and out of parking lots and help them use the My Parking app to pay parking fees via SMS messages.

Developed by the city’s transport department and Viettel Telecom, the app helps drivers find available parking slots and collects automobile parking fees via drivers’ smart devices, available on both Android and iOS systems.

Viettel currently carries out management and administration of transactions, and has signed agreements with other telecom providers such as Vinafone, Mobifone and Vietnamobile on the collection of fees.

A bid will be organised later to select a new tech provider for fee collection.

The People's Committees in districts 1, 5 and 10 handle violations of public security and traffic safety on the streets where parking is allowed on roadsides and sidewalks.

The transport department also co-ordinates with these districts to monitor the implementation and propose new technologies.

The app has been used on 23 streets in districts 1, 5 and 10 since August 1 last year.

Revenue from parking fee collections comes from about 16 per cent of the total number of vehicles recorded by cameras installed on the streets in these three districts, with the rate of lost revenue reaching as high as 80 per cent.

Technology solutions remain inadequate and fee-collection staff only work eight hours a day. — VNS