SINGAPORE - From next year (2019), all MPs, including Non-Constituency and Nominated MPs will be charged $250 a year for a permit to park at Parliament House for official business, said the Clerk of Parliament on Friday (Nov 30).
But elected MPs can also use the permit to park in any Housing Board (HDB) carpark, including season parking lots, when they do constituency work.
They, however, will have to pay the prevailing short-term parking charges through the electronic parking system or the Parking.SG mobile app.
Currently, only elected MPs can apply for an annual permit at $365, which covers parking charges at HDB carparks and Parliament House. This is about one-third the prevailing HDB season parking rate for one year.
The Ministry of National Development had said in June that MPs are not charged the full HDB season parking rate because they "do not park overnight or full day at their constituencies".
As for Non-Constituency and Nominated MPs, they currently can park at the restricted staff carpark at Parliament House for free.
The parking issue came under the spotlight earlier this year following the Government's decision to start charging teachers for parking in their schools.
It had raised questions on whether MPs pay similar fees when in Parliament on official business.
An MND spokesman said on Friday (Nov 30), in response to queries from The Straits Times, that the Government reviews carpark charges regularly.
She added that the new $250 parking permit is "based on MPs' average annual parking usage at Parliament House, and pegged to Parliament House's public carpark rate".
