People's Park Centre doubles weekday car park rates with Chinese New Year surcharge

People's Park Centre in Chinatown has raised their weekday daytime parking fees by 75 per cent as a Chinese New Year surcharge. 

Parking rates have risen to $4.20 per hour on weekdays — from 7am to 4.59pm — reported Shin Min Daily News. 

Evening per-entry fees — from 5pm to 6.59am the next day — have also risen to $5.80 on weekdays, and $6.80 on Fridays and weekends. 

Normally, it would cost $2.40 per hour from Monday to Saturday, and $3 per entry on Sundays and public holidays. 

Wilson Parking, the car park's management company, said that the new fees were imposed on Jan 22 and will be in effect till Feb 23, reported the Chinese evening daily.  

An elderly man, who wished to beknown as Terry, told Mothership that he had incurred a $10 parking fee for a 30-minute period. 

He had parked his car at People's Park Centre from 4.48pm to 5.18pm last Monday (Jan 26), thus incurring a fee of $4.20 for the period before 5pm, and and $5.80 per entry after 5pm. 

Many businesses at People's Park Centre were unaware of the updated carpark rates, reported Shin Min. 

A luggage store owner, whose last name is Ke (transliterated), told Shin Min that the shopping complex is normally quite empty and that the higher parking fees may deter customers from coming. 

"There are other cheaper car parks nearby. Customers might park there and spend their money there instead, and won't make the effort to walk over," he said. 

AsiaOne has reached out to Wilson Parking for additional information. 

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dana.leong@asiaone.com