VietNamNet Bridge – Drivers in the capital who use iParking, a smart parking mobile app, can pay parking fee by cash if they face problems with the app, Vu Van Vien, director of Hanoi’s Transport Department said. 

A car driver uses the smart app iParking to book his parking slot. — Photo tienphong.vn

Earlier, drivers had complained that only those who used the mobile phone network of military-run telecom service provider Viettel could successfully complete the parking order via iParking. 

Vien said this was because the app management unit had not signed contract with other service providers, such as Vinaphone, Mobile Phone and Vietnam Mobile. There are some problems that need to be solved, but they need an order from the Finance Ministry and State Bank of Viet Nam, he said. 

He clarified that drivers who used mobile phones provided by Vinaphone, Mobile Phone and Vietnam Mobile could pay by cash. Staff will issue receipts to the drivers and use Viettel-provided mobile phone numbers to pay the fee. 

Parking fee is the same for both cash and iParking - VND30,000 ($1.3) an hour for single time on streets in the city centre and VND25,000 (US$ 1.1) for other streets in Hoan Kiem District. 

Vien said the local authorities had planned to extend iParking to other areas in the city and adjust prices to create an open and transparent system to collect parking fee.  

The local Transport Department and district people’s committees studied 151 parking lots in the inner city where iParking could be applied. With a total area of more than 84,000sq.m, these lots can accommodate more than 4,500 cars. 

iParking provides users with a list of vacant parking locations in the pilot area as well as many other useful features. It was piloted on Tran Hung Dao and Ly Thuong Kiet streets in Hanoi in May last year. But the app was suspended three months later due to technical problems. 

It was reopened at the beginning of this year with the new number 9566. Drivers who want to book a parking slot need to text the ordinal number of the parking slot and car registration number to 9566. The parking fee is then deducted from the mobile phone account or bank account of the driver. 

Source: VNS