Parking meters to accept ‘Easy Transfer’ and other e-payments under new concession

[Photo: Renato Marques]

Around 10,000 metered parking spaces across Macau will soon accept electronic payments, including “Easy Transfer,” following the government’s appointment of a new concessionaire yesterday.

A government executive order published in the Official Gazette confirmed that Nam Kwong Tong Company Limited has been granted a seven-year operating concession for public road metered parking spaces. The contract was authorised by Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai and signed by Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raymond Tam, marking the end of Macau Forehap Parking Management Limited’s tenure, which had managed the city’s paid public parking services since 2016.

Following the government’s announcement, it is understood that the new concessionaire’s seven-year operating term will see metered parking users offered a range of local and non-local electronic payment solutions – including “Easy Transfer,” electronic stored-value cards, and credit cards – alongside a mobile app and website enabling real-time parking availability checks and remote payment.

The executive order explicitly requires: “The concessionaire shall self-finance the procurement and installation of a ‘one-manager-multiple-meters’ fee collection system to replace existing equipment, and shall provide multiple local and non-local electronic payment methods, including ‘Easy Transfer,’ stored-value cards, and credit cards. It shall also procure and install vehicle detection sensors for all light and heavy vehicle parking spaces across Macau, and establish a dedicated mobile application and website for the public to access real-time parking status and make remote payments.”

The contract further stipulates that the concessionaire shall bear all costs for acquiring and installing the new “one-manager-multiple-meters” fee collection system to replace the current infrastructure, facilitating a seamless transition for the operation of paid public parking.

The authorities have pledged that the existing system will remain operational alongside the new system until full activation, ensuring that all approximately 10,000 metered parking spaces nationwide remain continuously available to users. The government also confirmed that Macau offers an additional 20,000 free parking spaces.

Notably, the Transport Bureau (DSAT) launched a public tender for the public road parking space operating concession on February 25 this year, attracting 13 proposals, of which 12 were accepted and one was subsequently withdrawn.

The incumbent operator, Macau Forehap Parking Management Limited, had originally taken over the management of public metered parking in two zones from Companhia de Parques de Macau, S.A. in 2016 under a seven-year contract expiring in April 2023. Following the expiry, the bureau directly collected meter revenues for over two years before granting Forehap a direct award to continue managing all metered spaces, a temporary arrangement that lasted until last year, when the government finally announced a public tender for the long-term concession.

Since May 2023, coin payments at parking meters have been phased out under amendments to the Public Parking Service Regime, which mandate that “parking fees for public road spaces shall be paid exclusively by electronic means,” with all meter coin slots sealed and drivers required to use Macau Pass or UnionPay QuickPass.