Many shopping center visitors opt to pay overpriced parking rates, rather than fight for their rights.
“I tried to complain to the parking cashier, but she was confused, saying she was just an employee,” said Kurniawan, at Taman Anggrek Mall in West Jakarta.
Kurniawan paid Rp 2,000 (21 US cents) per hour while the official parking fees inside buildings and multi-story parking lots for cars and minibuses are Rp 2,000 for the first hour and Rp 1,000 for each following hour, as stipulated in a 2004 gubernatorial decree.
“I did not know about the regulation but even so, I don’t mind because it is safe to park my car here,” said Jeffrey Leonard, at Senayan City Mall in South Jakarta.
Jeffrey said he did not know about the regulation and there was no sign board showing the parking fees in the mall at the parking gate.
The situation continued at several other shopping malls like at Gajah Mada Plaza in Central Jakarta.
Henry, at Gajah Mada Plaza, said he did not know about the gubernatorial decree on the parking fees.
“I did not know about the regulation but even so, I don’t mind because it is safe to park my car here.”
When The Jakarta Post told him about the regulation, he said, “Oh, I have just learned about it. Actually I oppose [that parking companies overcharge the tariff] but I will not complain because this will only cause me more trouble.”
Some visitors said they were aware of the regulation, but they just accepted the overpriced tariff.
“Of course I know about the regulation, but I do not have any other option but to park my car here unless I want to walk all the way from outside of the mall,” said Priska, another Senayan City visitor.
Hendy, another Taman Anggrek Mall visitor, refused to complain since he did not know where to report his objection upon learning that he had been charged overpriced.
He hoped the local administration would conduct inspections so that the parking operators would not breach the regulation.
Sri Ayu Ningsih, Senayan City public relations and tenant communication manager denied that the mall had breached the regulation.
Tulus Abadi of the Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) said parking operators and building management must follow the regulation. “Even though there is no objection from some consumers, the law needs to be upheld,” he said.
“The parking management should remember that parking is a public facility so they should not treat it as source of income.”
