Motorists were shocked when they found out the hourly parking charges in the CBD had increased from the usual 80sen per hour to RM2 for the first hour and RM3 for every subsequent hour.The CBD areas in Kuala Lumpur are Bangsar, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Bukit Bintang, Bukit Damansara, Sri Hartamas, Desa Hartamas, and Solaris Mont Kiara.StarMetro front-paged the report that parking fees in the CBD would be increased by up to 150% to help free up parking spaces, encourage people to use public transportation and to carpool to ease traffic congestion in the city.

The story went viral on social media with hundreds of netizens expressing their dissatisfaction and anger over DBKL’s move at such short notice.

StarMetro spoke to a few affected motorists who voiced their dissatisfaction over the new charges including the difficulty in using the newly installed parking ticket machines.

Assistant relationship manager Loqman Hakim Sofian, 30, said he was disappointed and disturbed over the move.

“Normally, I park my car for about eight hours in Bangsar which costs me about RM3.50 but now it is going to be RM5 for only two hours.

The increase, he said, would be a burden to the people.

A bank staff known only as Lina, 45, said motorists have to pay for toll charges and now have to fork out more for parking as well.

Dr P. Mahendran, who runs a clinic in Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi in Taman Tun Dr Ismail said many businesses would suffer from the increase if people avoid areas with the higher charges.

The new parking charges will be enforced in stages from now until Aug 1, which will see an increase of between 100% and 200%, depending on the locality.

Parking fee in zones outside the city, which is currently 50sen per hour, will eventually go up by next month.