Bali Introduces Cashless Parking Payment System In Denpasar

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Authorities in Bali have introduced a cashless parking payment system in Denpasar. The system has been given the go-ahead after a trial of 52 parking attendants was a success. The new system offers drivers the convenience of scanning a QR code to pay for their parking if they do not have a small change.

So far there have been 17 new car parking attendants deployed across major car parks in Denpasar with more being rolled out in the near future. 

The 17 attendants can be found in parking lots around Puputan Field, the park close to Bali’s famous Bajra Sandhi Monument. The new cashless car parking system is being rolled out from the heart of the city and there are hopes that this will become a widespread solution across Bali. In May last year, a similar system was introduced in parts of Buleleng Regency in North Bali.

The Head of the Reporting and Complaints Subdivision of Perumda Bhukti Praja Sewakadarma, Desak Made Ekaprastyawati, told reporters that ‘this is a non-cash digital parking program that makes it easier for people who usually don’t carry small cash’. The Perumda Bhukti Praja Sewakadarma, is a regional public company in charge of overseeing public operations like car parking. 

He confirmed that people could still pay with cash and everyone will still be issued car parking tickets as proof of payment. He said a benefit of the cashless system is to make sure that car parking attendants are being honest with the car parking ticketing fees.

He said ‘So the possibility of parking attendants being naughty, embezzling deposits, and not giving tickets can be minimized from this QRIS. Implementing digital parking through QRIS, this is an innovation that we do, in addition to supporting government programs to minimize the use of cash’.

The project certainly has great benefits but local reports suggest that there needs to be a wider spread of awareness of the new payment option for it to become a lasting success. So many people are used to paying IDR 1,000 to park a moped and IDR 2,000 to park a car in parking lots across Bali. There are some parking lots where more is charged but the 1,000-2,000 is fairly standard.

The fact that car parking attendants wear uniform vests also helps bring a level of legitimacy to the role of the car park attendant which, as Ekaprastyawati suggests, has become synonymous with naughtiness in some parts of the island; especially when it comes to opportunistically charging more for car parking where possible. 

The Indonesian News Agency Antara spoke with one of the new attendants who said that uptake of the new service had been slow. A car parking attendant called Sumadi said ‘there are no obstacles but no one wants to use it…only five in one week, there was one car and the rest were motorbikes’. 

A regular user of the car park at Puputan Field, Rafli Ramadai, said he was not aware of the new system and has carried on paying with cash as usual. He said ‘I haven’t tried it, but if this [new system] is better, I will try it. This system will be good in the future, reducing physical contact to avoid Covid-19 too’. 

There has been no updates as to where the next phase of the rollout will happen. The system may be more readily adopted in areas with more volume of visitors including tourism hotspots. Use of cash is still a widespread form of payment in most parts of Indonesia.

There are still many people in Bali who prefer to pay with cash, though the introduction of more cashless systems is being supported more and more. As currency and payment options become more digitized it is the younger generations in Bali who will adjust to changes most proficiently.