DSAT announces parking meter upgrades for mobile payments

The Transport Bureau (DSAT) will upgrade parking meters so they can accept payments from several mobile payment apps rather than from “tap cards” only.

The information came from the bureau’s response to an inquiry from lawmaker Ngan Iek Hang.

According to DSAT, the bureau has consulted the Monetary Authority (AMCM) which has been encouraging all financial institutions to cooperate with government policy to promote electronic payment for parking spaces.

Parking meters have been on the agenda of several lawmakers and community advisors for some time, particularly since the DSAT removed the option to pay with coins, a measure that has raised questions about the constitutionality of the change as it potentially represents a “refusal of accepting local currency for payments” which is illegal under Macau law.

Earlier this year the Times reported that António Monteiro, a member of the Central District Community Advisory Board, had queried a lack of updates and also the impracticality of the current system.

Besides the reduced payment options, Monteiro said the system does not offer users the option of displaying the parking meters’ on-screen text in English, compounding the system’s difficulty for those who cannot read Chinese or Portuguese.