In the year that he is running for the presidency of Panama, City Mayor, Jose Isabel Blandon has signed off on a deal in which motorists will have to pay up to 260% more to use parking meters.

The municipality has granted a concession for the administration and operation of the 1,296 parking meters already in place, and the creation of new ones, to the Panama Parking Consortium, for 15 years.

The contract is awaiting the endorsement of the Comptroller General.

Currently, the maximum rate for using meters is 50 cents an hour. less than a cent a minute. With the new rates, which will take effect from the second year of the contract, the cost will be higher than 3 cents a minute in some areas, and in other areas, it will range between 3 and 6 cents a minute.

The 15-year contract was awarded to the Panama Parking Consortium, formed by the Panamanian company SH3 Ingeniería, SA, and the US company Hectronic USA Corp. for $3.5 million

As charged by the Municipality in the tender, the collection of parking is the "most viable to persuade users of private transport to reduce the frequency of trips, which rationalizes the use of the road and the circulation of vehicles in urban areas.” Currently,  the parking meters are administered by the Municipality.

With the new concession contract,  from year two the city will be divided into a"blue zone" and "green zone”

In the "blue zone," the rate will be higher than 3 cents a minute, plus Itbms. The longer you park, the higher the rate.

The concessionaire -Panamá Parking- promises to pay the local government royalties for only 5% of the amount of annual gross revenue generated. Reports La Prensa.

Among the functions that the concessionaire will have is to inform the local government whenever a user does not pay, goes beyond the established time to park or commits any fault so that the Municipality make the collection.

In the "blue zone", two hours were set as the maximum time for a vehicle to remain parked, while for green, the maximum time allowed is four hours.

In addition, areas, where there were no parking meters, such as Punta Pacifica, Costa del Este or Casco Viejo, will join the club in stages.

In Casco Viejo,t a Unesco World Heritage site and payment system will be by cell phone (smart parking).