India, Oct. 3 -- While Delhi is moving towards paid parking in most of its commercial areas, unreserved parking in residential areas continues to be on a predominantly first-cum-first serve basis. The current practice of free on-street parking in most neighbourhoods of Delhi is not only an elite capture of public land for private purpose; it is also deeply contested often resulting in serious hostility between neighbours. There are an increasing number of media reports on violent disputes, at times ending even in deaths, over limited residential parking spaces as car ownership is consistently showing an upward trend in the city.

Delhi Master Plan-2047 (MPD-2047) notified on August 20, 2026, aims to disincentivise the use of private vehic...