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GEORGE TOWN: Motorists parking on Penang Island and Seberang Perai did not have to pay for parking for the second day in a row today after a glitch in an online payment system remained unsolved.
Executive State Councilor Jagdeep Singh Deo said the Penang Smart Parking (PSP) app was supposed to be up and running again at 11 a.m. today, but suffered intermittent service interruptions.
Yesterday, motorists took to Facebook to complain after being unable to log into their PSP account, with some reporting a “zero balance” on their e-wallets there.
In a Facebook post, PSP operators clarified that there was a service outage and that the matter was being fixed.
In response, the mayors of both municipalities in Penang said that those who had paid for parking would be reimbursed, while fines related to non-payment of parking fees would be canceled.
“We hope that the PSP stabilizes. We are monitoring the situation and will issue a statement once the PSP is up and running again.
“Meanwhile, the mayors of Penang Island and Seberang Perai have written to the PSP operators demanding an explanation,” Jagdeep told a news conference in Komtar today.
He said operators had said yesterday that there was no need to pay for parking. The same could be said for the current situation, as the system is not working yet, he added.
HeiTech Padu Bhd manages 36,000 of the state’s local council parking lots.
According to an announcement by Bursa, the company received a 65:35 profit share for the first five years (35% for boards) and then 60:40 for the last two years. She signed a seven-year concession with the two councils in May 2019.
HeiTech had said it was spending RM115 million to digitize the management of parking in Penang as part of a private finance initiative.
The parking fee is 80 sen an hour for the island and 40 sen an hour at Seberang Perai.
