Malls change parking fee plans

Mall of the Emirates and Deira City Centre will significantly scale down plans to charge for parking and extend free parking until October 4

DUBAi // The owner of two of Dubai's largest shopping malls said yesterday it will significantly scale down plans to charge for parking, and will extend completely free parking until October 4. Majid Al Futtaim Group, which owns the Mall of the Emirates and Deira City Centre, said in July it intended to make customers pay for using car parks for more than a few hours each day. It said it was necessary to prevent drivers from using the facilities as impromptu park-and-ride lots for the Dubai Metro.

Now, both malls will have free parking on weekends and four free hours, instead of three, on weekdays. In addition, the free trial period of the paid-parking scheme, during which customers receive a timed ticket but do not actually pay the charges, will be extended. The decision was made after reviewing customer feedback on the set-up, which was introduced at both malls last month to prepare shoppers for the change, said Fareed Abdelrahman, the vice president of divisional asset management at the ownership company.

"One point that did emerge was that ? genuine mall visitors would need spaces for longer periods at the weekends," he said. "Another request was to raise the number of free parking hours during the week." Beginning on October 4, weekday customers will be charged Dh20 for each hour beyond the four-hour limit. Customers have in the past expressed serious reservations over parking charges at malls which, in the UAE's harsh summer climate, are popular venues for social gatherings.

However, "many of our customers agreed with us ? that there was a need for a system to ensure parking is available for them when they visit the malls once the Metro starts operation," Mr Abdelrahman said. Burjuman is the only other shopping centre to introduce a paid parking scheme. Unlike Burjuman, the system at Mall of the Emirates and Deira City Centre does not reward shoppers with lower parking fees for making a certain amount of purchases in the malls.