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akarta Governor Fauzi Bowo has ordered an investigation following perceptions of underachievement given revenue collected from parking fees last year.

“I regret the disappointing fee collection. We need to hold an investigation into this,” Fauzi said.

The city administration had set a target to collect a total of Rp 185 billion (US$20.35 million), but was only able to rake in a total of Rp 157.3 billion throughout the entirety of 2011, falling short by around 15 percent.

The governor ordered the administration’s Inspector to look into the city’s Parking Service Unit, a unit under the City Transportation Agency and the City Tax Office, which is responsible for collecting tax income from private partners.

Fauzi also said that he was planning to have a third party hold an independent audit over the revenue at both private and state institutions related.

“The independent audit would help to decide whether the problem is from our own or it is external,” he said.

Separately, City Inspector chief Franky Mangatas said that their investigation would begin as soon as possible.

“This is a direct order from the governor. We will form an investigative team immediately,” Franky said.

The Inspector, however, would not name the culprit, Franky said.

“It would be the governor’s authority to decide who or what was the problem based on our investigation,” Franky said.

He also added whether the investigation results would be announced publicly, or based upon the governor’s decision.

“Our job is only to investigate and report to the governor,” Franky said.

The Jakarta Tax Office reported that revenue from parking fees had never achieved the set targets within the last three years.

Only in 2009 was Rp 139 billion in income from parking fees were submitted to the city, falling far short of a target of Rp 150 billion. Only a Rp 125 billion was collected from a Rp 165 billion target in 2011.

Tax Office chief Iwan Setiawandi said later on Monday that the underachieving revenue was caused by leaks on the parking space operator level.

Iwan said that the city would impose a fully online system in parking fee collection from operator to reduce leaks in 2013.

“Operators who refuse to use the online system would have their license revoked,” he said.

Currently, operators were reporting their income from fee collection using self-assessed tax report documentation.

“The current system is obviously weak and prone to cheat. We hope that the online system will improve our income,” Iwan said.

The City Council is planning to issue a special bylaw on parking before the middle of the year, pushing to reduce the city’s role in collecting parking fees and re-affirm its position as the regulatory body for parking management.

The Council will reposition the city’s Parking Service Unit as policy maker and not policy executor in the new bylaw on parking. Parking fee collecting will be handed to third or private parties, which is expected to lead to better accountability and management.

Councilors expect that with a stronger focus on regulatory functions, the city could better utilize parking policy to help manage Jakarta traffic, not only as source of income for the city.