Troubleshooting: Parking and Vehicles

Troubleshooting: parking and vehicles

Someone is parked in my allotted slot

The register decides this, which is why it must exist and be current.

1. Check /parking to confirm the slot is allotted to your flat.
2. If the vehicle is registered to another flat, the gate can identify the owner and contact them.
3. If it is an unregistered vehicle, tell the guard.
4. Escalate to the committee in writing, not to a confrontation at 11pm. Repeated incidents need a record.

Do not have your society clamp or tow without a documented policy behind it — societies have been held liable for damage caused without authority.

I have not been allotted a slot

Slots are allotted by the committee under the policy your general body adopted. If you have none:

• Check whether your society has surplus. Many do not — one slot per flat before anyone gets a second is the standard rule, and if slots are short you may be waiting.
• Join the waitlist. Your status will show waiting, and moves to promoted when a slot is offered to you. Waitlist positions are worked in order.
• Ask what the allotment method is. It should be published — lottery or seniority — not decided case by case.

If a second slot has been allotted to a flat while you have none, that is worth raising: the standard and defensible rule is one per flat first.

My slot shows as blocked or reserved

Blocked usually means maintenance. Ask the committee how long, and whether an alternate slot is available meanwhile.

My vehicle is not recognised at the gate

• Check it is registered. Go to /parking and confirm the registration number is recorded against your flat, with no typos.
• Check the validity date. Vehicles can carry a valid-until date; an expired entry will not match. Ask your committee to extend it.
• Check the vehicle type is right — car, bike, bicycle, EV car or EV bike. Some societies allot and charge by type.
• New vehicle? Register it before the first entry rather than at the gate.

I sold my car / bought a new one

Update the register yourself, or ask your committee admin. Remove the old vehicle and add the new one.

Leaving an old vehicle registered means the gate is holding a record that no longer matches reality, and your slot may look occupied by a vehicle nobody can find.

I want an EV charging point

This needs the committee's permission, not just an electrician.

Ask them to confirm: who pays for the point, whose meter it draws from, what happens to the installation when you sell, and whether the society has adopted an EV policy.

You cannot run a cable across common areas or draw from a common meter without permission. Several states now encourage provision for EV charging in residential parking, so a blanket refusal is worth questioning — but the process is a committee decision.

For admins: the register does not match reality

The usual causes:

• Move-outs not closed properly. Releasing the slot must be part of the move-out checklist, or it stays allotted to someone who left.
• Vehicles never deregistered when residents changed cars.
• Slots never numbered physically, so the register refers to slots nobody can identify on the ground.

Fix the physical marking first. A register that maps to unmarked slots cannot resolve any dispute.

For admins: changing parking charges

Charges are fixed by the general body, not the committee. See passing a parking fee increase for the notice, quorum and resolution wording that make it stick.

Frequently asked questions

Someone is in my slot. Can I have their car towed? Only under a policy your general body has adopted, with notice and a documented basis. Report it to the guard and the committee instead.

Do I own my parking slot? Almost certainly not. Open and stilt parking are common areas the society allots; they cannot be sold or let separately from the flat.

Can the society charge me for a slot I do not use? If a slot is allotted to you, generally yes. Surrender it formally if you do not want it.

How does the waitlist work? You join it and your status shows waiting; it becomes promoted when a slot is offered. Positions are worked in order.

Can I get a second slot? Only from genuine surplus, after every flat has had the chance of one, and usually at a higher rate.

My registration number has a typo and the gate stops me. Correct it in the parking register, or ask your committee admin. The gate matches on the number recorded.

Related: Resident: register a vehicle · Admin: manage parking slots · Parking rules in a housing society