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GEORGE TOWN: The company that manages Penang’s 36,000 parking lots today apologized to motorists for a major flaw since Tuesday in a mobile app used to collect fees.
The breakdown forced the town councils to declare free parking for the rest of the week, canceling the fines for non-payment of rates.
The executive vice president of parking operator HeiTech Padu Berhad, Abdul Halim Md Lassim, said the problem started when he launched an improved version of the app.
At a press conference in Komtar today, he said that the Penang Smart Parking (PSP) app will be up and running tomorrow.
HeiTech received a seven-year concession to manage parking lots in the state. About 400,000 motorists are registered with the PSP, the operator said.
At the same conference, Seberang Perai Mayor Rozali Mohamud said the operators should have alerted the two Penang councils before making the update.
“You should have consulted us first. At least we could have decided on a contingency plan in the event of a power outage. Take this seriously, as it involves peace of mind for Penang drivers, ”he said.
Penang Island Mayor Yew Tung Seang agreed with his colleague’s statements, saying the disruption should not happen again.
The Chairman of the State Committee for Local Government Jagdeep Singh Deo said HeiTech still had to pay its minimum guaranteed sum due to the island and Seberang Perai municipalities despite not being able to collect the fees from September 1-4.
To be fair, most drivers like the PSP application because it is convenient. This problem started when they (HeiTech) were updating their application for the benefit of users, ”he said.
On Tuesday, PSP users took to Facebook to complain after being unable to log into their PSP account, with some reporting a “zero balance” on their e-wallets.
According to a filing with Bursa, the company signed a 65:35 profit share for the first five years (with 35% for boards) and a 60:40 agreement for the last two years. He signed the seven-year concession with the two municipalities 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 per hour for the island from Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. M. At 6 p. And 40 sen per hour in Seberang Perai (Monday to Saturday, 8 am to 6 pm).
