Those who park in car parks under the Housing & Development Board (HDB) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) would know that there’s a grace period.
If you enter but leave within a certain time, you wouldn’t have to pay parking fees.
Since May, this grace period was extended to 20 mins, but it will now revert back to 10 mins from 19 Aug.
This comes as Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) restrictions are eased to allow dining in.
When Singapore first went into Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) in May, the demand for delivery services unsurprisingly went up.
As more people stayed home, delivery drivers and riders were out and about.
However, they faced a mad dash to make their deliveries by the 10-minute grace period if they were to avoid paying parking fees.
Thus, car parks under the HDB and URA sought to help them by extending the grace period to 20 mins from 23 May.
This concession will end on 19 Aug, HDB said on Friday (13 Aug) in a friendly public service announcement (PSA) on Facebook.
The original 10-minute grace period will thus be reinstated at all HDB-managed car parks from that date.
The same applies to car parks under URA, such as those in Kampong Glam and Joo Chiat.
You can refer to this interactive map to check which car parks are under URA.
HDB said that the move comes as restrictions are eased.
On 10 Aug, dining out for up to 5 fully vaccinated persons was allowed at eateries across Singapore, as well as up to 2 people for hawker centres and coffee shops.
Further relaxing of restrictions are expected by 19 Aug, said the Multi-Ministry Task Force, if the pandemic situation remains stable.
For delivery riders, that means they’ll have to resume their 10-min dash to avoid paying for parking.
Though it’s expected that more people will be dining out – thus fewer will be ordering home delivery – the demand for home delivery won’t go away, especially when Covid-19 still exists.
Thus, the problem of delivery riders having to lose some income from parking charges may return.
The issue was even brought up in Parliament, with MP Hany Soh calling for temporary parking and pick-up points for riders.
The extension of the grace period helped temporarily, but it’ll be cut by half soon, so it could be back to square one for delivery riders.
For those who do delivery to earn a living, not being able to exit carparks within the grace period is a major concern.
As our delivery heroes sacrifice their lives so we can stay home during the pandemic, do you think they could do with a longer grace period, or dedicated pick-up points?
Hopefully, the relevant authorities can consider a solution to make their lives easier.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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