Chennai Corporation to roll out smart parking in 20 areas

Chennai: Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) will roll out a revamped smart parking management system at 20 locations across the city under the public-private partnership (PPP) model by end of 2026, in a bid to bring technology-driven order to on-street parking.In July 2025, GCC terminated its parking services contract with TEXCO. Since then, the city has been without a unified parking management system and this has lead to complaints of haphazard parking, fee disputes and revenue gaps in several commercial areas. For the first phase, the civic body has identified busy zones including Marina, Besant Nagar, Washermenpet, Nungambakkam and Anna Nagar. "The system will introduce organized on-street parking bays supported by digital and QR code-based payment options, camera-enabled monitoring, and advanced analytics for real-time enforcement," said GCC chief engineer B Shankaravelu. "Motorists will be able to make cashless payments. Automated surveillance will help authorities detect violations and optimize space usage. This will streamline parking management and reduce congestion in high-footfall areas," he said.
Officials said the PPP model will bring in private-sector efficiency while retaining civic oversight. The smart platform will enable end-to-end digital monitoring of the parking system, minimize manual intervention, and enhance transparency in fee collection. "It is a progressive step to scale parking management across Chennai's neighbourhoods, building on the previous proposal announced in the 2025 budget and the CMA Parking Policy," said Institute for Transportation and Development Policy programme manager A V Venugopal. For this initiative to succeed, it must be implemented through a neighbourhood-based approach involving local stakeholders and addressing area-specific challenges, he added. Residents point out that longstanding encroachments must be cleared first."The mega parking plan was initially designed by CUMTA for Anna Nagar and later handed over to GCC. But no steps were taken to implement it," pointed out Federation of Anna Nagar Residents Association secretary V Sandhya.