Parking Extortion Practices In Menteng Area Again Happens

Parking attendant suspected of committing extortion (Photo: Rizky Sulistio/VOI)

JAKARTA - Allegations of illegal levies (Pungli) for parking vehicles on the side of the road have again been found in the Menteng area, Central Jakarta. The findings of this alleged extortion practice were directly experienced by Public Policy Observer Azas Tigor Nainggolan.

This extortion incident was experienced by Tigor and his colleagues at the sidewalk parking location on Jalan Cikini Raya, Cikini, Menteng, Central Jakarta, Monday, August 2nd. Tigor gave serious attention to the existence of this illegal practice.

Furthermore, Tigor recounted the beginning of the extortion incident he experienced. At that time, Tigor and his partner came in two cars and parked the vehicle on the sidewalk of Jalan Cikini Raya, to be precise in front of the coffee shop.

Whereas in that place, the DKI Provincial Government has arranged a parking system with a machine that is paid for using an electronic card. However, Tigor and his partner were actually offered to pay in cash by the parking attendant.

Tigor said that parking users are allowed to pay in cash if they do not have an electronic card. However, parking attendants still have to tap on the parking machine with their card before accepting cash payments.

In fact, the procedure was not carried out. The parking attendant immediately received cash from Tigor's friend without tapping the card.

"If that's the case, the transaction will not be recorded. It could have entered the parking attendant's personal pocket," said Tigor when contacted by VOI reporters, Tuesday, August 03.

"I asked the parking attendant if he didn't have a card, he just kept quiet," added Tigor.

Realizing that something was wrong, Tigor finally refused to follow his partner to pay in cash. Tigor prefers to fill in the balance on his electronic card first so he can pay through the parking machine.

"The jukir seemed disappointed and angry because I paid by card and didn't want to pay in cash. I said if I was asked to pay in cash, it meant extortion," said Tigor.

In addition, Tigor also highlighted the mechanism for recording parking times by the judge. The driver admitted to manually recording the hour of arrival and stated that Tigor and his partner had been parking for 5 hours. In fact, Tigor said he only parked for 3 hours.

"Supposedly when we entered, we were directed to do taping to enter first. So it was recorded accurately," said Tigor.

In addition to telling about this incident on his social media, Tigor also claimed to have reported to the DKI Jakarta Transportation Agency regarding this extortion. He hopes that the DKI Provincial Government will take immediate action regarding this parking problem. He assessed that there must be a comprehensive solution so that the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government can get optimal income from official parking.