A photo of a parking ticket for 5 thousand rupees went viral on Balinese social media. Guests were charged 2.5 times the officially set 2000 rupees fee by the parking attendants in front of In-laws Coffee & Eatery on Diponegoro Street in Denpasar.
Locals were outraged by the rate and especially by the tickets, on which, as users commented, a 'rip-off rate' was printed. However, the ticket seems to be quite official. The ticket reads:
"The government of Denpasar City, the state enterprise Bhukti Praja Sewakadarma, Perda No.14 of 2019, Mayor's Decree No.64 of 2023, parking service ticket, temporary motorcycle parking — 5 thousand rupees."
The actual official rates set by the mayor's decree No.64 of 2023 on parking regulation are 2 thousand rupees for motorcycles and 3 thousand rupees for cars.
The scandal became so loud that the intervention of the director-general of the state enterprise Bhukti Praja Sewakadarma was necessary. Nyoman Putrawan clarified the situation, explaining that the parking management in this area is carried out by their enterprise in cooperation with the traditional village of Denpasar.
The chairman of the committee for the 60th anniversary of Banjar Catur Panca requested parking arrangements for the art event on Saturday evening, May 24, 2025, from 5:00 p.m. until the end of the event.
“Perumda Bhukti Praja Sewakadarma approved this cooperation by organizing temporary parking and assigning appropriate staff to the designated area,” Putrawan stated in an official release on Monday, May 26, 2025.
According to him, each parking employee was issued special temporary tickets to be used only during the event. According to the standard operating procedures (SOP), the staff must return the unused tickets after the event.
“However, in practice, one of the employees named Mr. Rada did not return the tickets and used them to collect parking fees outside the event area,” explained Putrawan.
The parking attendant who committed the violation has already received an official reprimand. Furthermore, all remaining temporary tickets issued to other employees were confiscated by the parking management department.
Putrawan added that each employee was provided with one block of 50 motorcycle tickets and one block of 50 car tickets. If the tickets ran out, unit staff were on standby to issue additional tickets.
The Balinese government also responded to the outrage of local residents. A member of Commission I DPRD of Denpasar, Yonathan Andrie Baskoro, expressed the opinion that the reprimand for the parking attendants, who collected 5 thousand rupees from motorcycles, is not enough to create a deterrent effect. He insists on an audit and retraining of parking staff.
The statement was made by Yonathan during his personal visit to the incident location.
“If limited to a warning, such punishment will not create a restraining effect. I believe that if this is classified as illegal collection, appropriate measures should be taken according to the current legislation. In this case, the most applicable is the anti-corruption law,” explained Yonathan.
He expressed concern that soft measures like warnings could lead to a recurrence of such violations. Such measures could also create a sense of impunity among unscrupulous parking attendants.
“In my opinion, this needs to be addressed more seriously,” he added.
Nevertheless, Yonathan praised the prompt actions of Perumda Bhukti Praja Sewakadharma in resolving the situation. He expressed hope that parking management would be conducted more professionally and effectively in the future, bringing more benefit to the Denpasar city administration.
“I support and urge Perumda BPS to conduct a repeat audit. It is necessary to check the ticket printing process, their distribution, and accounting,” he stressed.
Yonathan also reported receiving complaints from citizens about the behavior of parking attendants who only appear at the moment when the driver is leaving, not when the vehicle arrives.
“I plan to propose a meeting between the DPRD and Perumda. Parking management is also within the scope of our commission's activities. I will pass this proposal to the management for further consideration,” he concluded.
It should be noted that parking attendants in popular tourist spots, such as Batu Bolong Beach in Canggu, have long been collecting 5 thousand rupees while issuing official tickets with this amount.
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