On the back of the fuel price increases, motorists will soon have to pay double the current fees for off-street parking.

The operators of parking businesses here have started seeking approval for the increase, which would be introduced after the Idul Fitri holiday.

If the proposal is approved, car owners will have to fork out Rp 4,000 per hour for parking. The current fee is Rp 2,000.

The fee for motorcycles will remain at Rp 1,000.

"We have to weather the bite of the increase in fuel prices, which has seen our operating costs surge," said deputy chairman of the Communication Forum for Parking Operators (FKPPS) Donny Biantara.

Donny told The Jakarta Post that the rise was necessary to anticipate the expected increase in the provincial minimum wage starting in January next year.

Currently, a tripartite council comprising representatives of the labor unions, employers and City Manpower Agency is at the negotiating table over the new minimum wage for 2006.

According to Donny, there are over 40,000 parking attendants working at a total of 400 locations at malls, shopping centers and office buildings across the capital.

The Association of Indonesian Shopping Center Operators (APPBI), the Association of Indonesian Retailers (Aperindo) and the Association of Indonesian Hoteliers and Restaurant Owners (PHRI) are among the members of the communication forum.

"We have scheduled to finalize the proposed increase by discussing it with other forum members after Idul Fitri, before we go on with submitting the request officially to the administration," he said.

The largest player in the industry, PT Securindo Packatama Indonesia, better known as Secure Parking urged the administration to give more leeway for the parking operators to charge the motorists in line with the services they provide.

"We have received complaints, for instance, from luxury car owners, who ask for special parking spaces for their cars. They also express willingness to pay higher fees for more space. The owners give tips to the parking attendants in order to get more space, which is simply against the regulations," said Secure Parking's general manager of communications, Tony Tjuatja.

"It would be better if the administration allowed parking operators to impose parking fees in accordance with market prices," he added.

Secure Parking employs more than 9,000 parking attendants at about 130 parking locations across the capital.

Although parking operators are yet to file an official request, Governor Sutiyoso hinted the go ahead would be given to the planned hike.

"We need to raise parking fees in order to ease traffic jams in the city center,

"Most big cities in the world also impose relatively higher parking fees to control the number of vehicles operating in the city center," he said.

However, many residents have opposed the plan, saying the hike would be another blow to their budgets.

They have also complained about the poor services provided by off-street parking operators amid rampant cases of auto theft.