The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The city’s parking landscape is currently a duopoly, split between M/s Charo Parking and M/s KCR Pvt. Ltd. Together, they manage thousands of slots across the capital, from the bustling Kaja Throm Market to the huge, yet empty Multi-Level Car Parks (MLCPs).
Estimated earnings show that Thimphu Thromde earned a total revenue of over Nu 40.32 million (mn) from the two parking fee collection contractors in 2025.
A Royal Audit Authority (RAA) audit report published in 2020 showed that the pool of parking fee collections was dominated by two private contractors, KCR and Kuenchap Enterprises with the Thromde getting only a small share of the profit.
The report had said that as per RAA’s calculation the two companies with over 1,460 parking slots, not including the 550 parking slots in the MLCP 1 and 2, earned around Nu 145 mn in total revenue, while sharing just over Nu 20 mn to the Thromde at the time.
This 2020 RAA report is titled “Performance Audit Report on Operations & Management of Thimphu Thromde” before the Thromde decided to enforce a hike on parking fees. The hike in parking fees should have meant even higher revenues since then.
In order to check its relevance on 10th April 2026, The Bhutanese, in absence of information sharing by Thimphu Thromde, despite requests, had to ask the two existing parking fee collection companies on their estimated collections and revenues and how much of it goes to the Thromde.
Despite submitting written questions, as per their media protocol, to the Thimphu Thromde on 24th March 2026 asking about the revenue share of Thromde from a parking fee company, and what they plan to do with it, the Thromde on 25th March said they had an internal discussion and decided they are unable to share the information regarding parking fee revenues, and what they plan to do with it.
Currently, Thimphu Thromde oversees only two companies for parking fee collection. They are M/s Charo Parking and M/s KCR Pvt Ltd.
The Thromde outsources tenders to private companies for parking fee collection on a two-year contract.
M/s Charo Parking
M/s Charo Parking is the company that holds the tender currently for 546 parking slots, mainly in the Kaja Throm Market area with 303 slots, Olakha with 84 slots, and Memorial Chorten with 76 slots, with 83 slots dispersed around Thimphu City.
A source said the contract is performance-based and Thimphu Thromde renewed its contract with M/s Charo Parking. It has been over 6 months since the renewal.
The source said the parking slots are inclusive of all on-street, off-street, and two-wheelers parking spots.
As for revenue, the Charo Parking owner claimed they only earn around Nu 1.60 to Nu 1.65 mn a month with February being the worst month. This suggests an annual income of 19.2 mn to Nu 19.8 mn.
He said that it is very difficult these days with GST, and whether they get their daily rates from fee collectors or not, they have to pay the targeted GST. He said parking fee users hardly pay GST and the difficulty in getting small denominations is a nightmare.
He said people park for days and disappear at odd hours and they find it difficult to pay the Thromde at the end of the month. He said he does not want to continue this job of parking fee collection with so many difficulties.
The 2020 RAA report said that Kuenchap Enterprise with 447 slots in South Thimphu and CFM is estimated to make around Nu 47.03 mn, of which Thimphu Thromde gets Nu 6.14 mn a year. This is before the rate hike.
In 2025, M/s Charo Parking, according to its owner, shared a cumulative revenue of Nu 17.82 mn to the Thromde.
KCR Pvt. Ltd
M/s KCR Pvt. Ltd is operating as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with the Thromde with a 22-year contract, which began from September 2014.
The company manages fee collections in the two MLCPs with 570 slots and 957 (on-street and off-street) parking slots scattered along Norzin Lam, Doebum Lam, the area around Chang Lam and many others.
The total on-street and off-street parking slots are also inclusive of two-wheeler slots. Four two-wheeler slots are considered one vehicle slot, and these two-wheeler slots have been provided “free of any charges” said the official.
An official from KCR Pvt. Ltd said that the initial concession fee to the Thromde was set to be Nu 12,345.67 per parking slot per year, which was meant to be paid quarterly.
Divided by 365 days, KCR Pvt. Ltd owed Nu 33.83 (on-street/Norzin Lam) per slot per day to the Thromde until the Thromde announced a dramatic hike on parking fees in 2021, an increase from Nu 15 per 30 minutes to Nu 20 for 30 minutes for on-street parking, and Nu 10 per 30 minutes to Nu 15 per 30 minutes for off street parking.
Because of the hike, the official said that KCR owes double the previous rate of Nu 33.82, which is Nu 67.64 per slot per day and an increase of 1.5 times for off-street parking, from Nu 33.82 to Nu 50.72.
With this information, the total estimated concession fee paid annually to the Thromde adds up to around Nu 22.5 million, which is Nu 19.4 mn for on-street parking plus Nu 3.2 mn for off-street parking, or a total of Nu 22.6 mn.
This estimated figure above is calculated without the fees collected from the two MLCPs and thus, is partial and incomplete since KCR Pvt. Ltd only shared their monthly collections and their concession fee payment rates to the Thromde.
The underutilized MLCPs now remain more than half-empty due to the failure of pedestrianization of Norzin Lam, and the only parked vehicles that can be seen in MLCP II are those of officials and workers of the Thromde without being charged.
On the other hand, MLCP I remains widely vacant, with only a handful of vehicles parked even when MLCP I has more capacity with 350 slots compared to 220 slots in MLCP II.
Moreover, the official said that overall earnings have significantly reduced over the years. He said that they used to get over Nu 220,000-250,000 daily before. Now, daily collections usually fall below Nu 160,000.
If these numbers are true, then the calculative average revenue of KCR Pvt. Ltd from its parking slots amounts to around Nu 50-60 mn annually.
Further, it also suggests that they used to collect between Nu 220,000-250,000 before the fee hike. Calculating this with 365 days a year, the amount floats between Nu 80-90 mn on estimate. With a few up-and-down in calculating the fees, the math almost checks out.
In the 2020 RAA report, it stated that KCR from its 1000+ parking slots (excluding MLCPs) was estimated to make around Nu 98.06 mn a year, and only paid Nu 14.02 mn to the Thromde.
After the hike, KCR Pvt. Ltd says it owes much more to the Thromde (Nu 22.5 mn), while their profits have plummeted greatly.
MLCP I and II now stand as largely vacant monuments due to failed pedestrianization efforts and market overestimation.
The official said that operating the MLCP is no longer unsustainable nor manageable. They have been engaging in talks with the government for arbitration and are considering the complete handover of the MLCPs, with less than a month left to do so.
M/s Green Parking
M/s Green Parking mainly handles the parking area in the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital (JDWNRH) for which they pay JDWNRH and a number of spaces in Phuentsholing Thromde for which they pay the Thromde. The company monitors a total of over 600 parking slots, with 274 in JDWNRH and over 360 slots in Phuentsholing.
The hospital area is completely out of the jurisdiction and oversight of Thimphu Thromde. The Phuentsholing area, however, is under Phuentsholing Thromde jurisdiction and the company is under a contract agreement.
Bhim Thapa, owner of M/s Green Parking said that the company is currently running on a contract basis for three years with JDWNRH and Phuentsholing, with just over a year elapsed.
The owner said that they have to pay a monthly concession fee of Nu 650,000 to JDWNRH and over Nu 1.4 mn to Phuentsholing Thromde for their operation.
He said that they began when their digital parking fee collection software called ‘Parking.bt’ was developed. Now, the company fully uses the system for checking in and out of all cars in JDWNRH and in Phuentsholing.
The digital collection system offers a smooth and efficient experience for both the collector and vehicle drivers, with little room for errors and automated GST calculations installed.
According to KCR and another source, the Thimphu Thromde is now planning to roll out a digital parking system for the companies soon, with the help of the GovTech Agency.
