According to data accessed by The Hindu, this is the highest number of cases booked in the corresponding period in any of the last 10 years, for wrong parking.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO
A whopping 10.99 lakh wrong parking cases have been booked by the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) in the first eight months of this year, nearly matching the 11.16 lakh cases booked in the whole of last year, which itself was a record.
While the data suggests that enforcement has tightened, the officers admitted that there has been very little impact on the ground. The problem persists even as towing, paid parking, and dedicated beats have been initiated to address the issue.
| Year | Wrong parking cases | Footpath parking |
| 2026 (till August-end) | 10.99 lakh | 1.16 lakh |
| 2025 | 11.16 lakh | 1.28 lakh |
| 2024 | 9.73 lakh | 1.17 lakh |
| 2023 | 10 lakh | 78,000 |
| 2022 | 10 lakh | 1.54 lakh |
| 2021 | 7.26 lakh | 75,000 |
A senior traffic police officer blamed the low penalty and recurring concession offers floated by the government for hindering the impact of tighter enforcement. As a result, haphazard parking still thrives in the city, although it is one of the major contributors to micro-level congestion, which also impacts traffic on arterial roads.
Record enforcement, persistent problem
According to data accessed by The Hindu, this is the highest number of cases booked in the corresponding period in any of the last 10 years, for wrong parking. Further, the data shows that the BTP booked 11.16 lakh wrong parking cases in the whole of 2025, 9.73 lakh in 2024, 10 lakh each in 2023 and 2022, and 7.26 lakh in 2021.
In addition, the BTP has booked a record 1.16 lakh footpath parking cases till end of August, 2026, while no year in the last half a decade saw more than 90,000 cases booked in the first eight months.
The officers noted that it is natural for a city like Bengaluru, with an increasing number of vehicle registrations, to record increased violations and a year-on-year increase in the number of cases.
Low fines?
A senior traffic police officer explained that Bengaluru has lower fines for haphazard parking, at ₹500, compared with other cities. He opined that it should be over ₹1,000 for a first-time violation, with the fines increasing through fixed slabs for second and third-time violations.
“In addition, we keep giving concessions for violators, which defeats the purpose of penalising. There are many instances where motorists who are caught violating norms, leave by saying they will pay the fines when the traffic police roll out the concession window,” the officer explained.
The lower fine structure was also recently flagged by Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, who had even written to the Transport Minister, urging an increase in the penalty for driving on footpaths. The haphazard parking also falls in the same category.
Published – September 20, 2026 06:17 pm IST
