Motorists in areas under DBKL’s jurisdiction can now use JomParking to pay for street parking fees along road shoulders in the federal capital starting today, October 7.
As of this month, the app is rated 4.1 ⭐️ on the Play Store and has around 330,000 registered users.
On October 1, DBKL had announced that 4 apps: Flexi Parking, Wilayah Parking, M-Cash, and EZ Smart Park, were ready to be used in replacement of parking payment machines.
In the same announcement, it mentioned that usage of Boost and Touch ‘n Go eWallet for the same purpose was undergoing improvements, and would be available again soon.
Supporters of JomParking were originally upset that it was left out, and were posting complaints online.
Not only would they have faced difficulties moving their leftover credit to the other 4 apps, but it’d mean they’d have to download an extra app just for parking in DBKL.
From our observations, JomParking’s UI was the most comprehensive and smoothest, and it has a reminder that prompts users to top up parking time when expiry time is near.
We wanted to find out then, what do the 4 other apps have to offer?
1. Flexi Parking
Developed by Leading Innovative Technologies and Systems (LITS) in 2016, Flexi Parking was created to save the environment by reducing the usage of paper.
In addition to hourly street parking payments, LITS has enabled monthly pass purchases, parking compound (summons) payments as well as paying for gated parking facilities (off-street parking) by scanning QR codes and using license plate recognition (LPR).
Once you register with Flexi Parking, your vehicle number will also be registered with MPAJ Parking, Smart Selangor Parking, and Wilayah Parking.
These services will be enabled via one single login and one credit wallet.
Number Of Downloads: 100K+ on Google Play Store.
Play Store Rating: 3.2 ⭐️ by 2,284 users.
Councils Covered: Councils in Selangor, Wilayah Persekutuan, Terengganu, and Kelantan.
Other Features: Pay for off-street parking.
What Do Reviews Say?
Pros: Good reminder system to pay parking and summons.
Cons: Poor search function and location detection.
Testing It Myself
The app was user-friendly to me as I was already familiar with using Smart Selangor. For me personally, it was able to detect my location instantly.
The downside is that you cannot pay DBKL summons with the app.
It makes sense for Flexi Parking to be one of the chosen apps for DBKL’s cashless parking enforcement.
The way I see it, they’re basically a consolidation for MPAJ Parking, Smart Selangor Parking, and Wilayah Parking in one.
2. Wilayah Parking
Wilayah Parking comes from the same developers as Flexi Parking.
Hence, has all the same functions and has the same exact app integration as the one above.
Number Of Downloads: 10K+ on Google Play Store.
Play Store Rating: 2.9 ⭐️ by 109 users.
Councils covered: Councils in Selangor, Wilayah Persekutuan, Terengganu, and Kelantan.
Other Features: Social distancing reminders that detects nearby devices.
What Do Reviews Say?
Pros: Convenient as it’s linked with 3 other apps.
Cons: Difficulties registering and poor user interface.
Testing It Myself
It’s the exact same app as Flexi Parking, just under a different name. Because I’ve already registered for the former, I already had an existing account.
The problem was, an error kept popping up telling me that I had the wrong email or password when I tried to log in.
Once you reset the password, it, in turn, will change the login details for Flexi Parking and the others associated with it.
It’s a no brainer that this app was chosen since Wilayah Parking has been DBKL’s main parking payment app since the start.
Adding the ability to pay for other municipal councils and Flexi Parking’s off-street parking system is a good move for the app.
Users can choose to download either one and benefit from the whole integrated system.
3. MCash
MCash was launched in 2016 as one of the pioneer e-wallets in Malaysia, according to their website.
It’s almost exactly like other popular e-wallets we’re familiar with.
Namely, Touch ‘n Go e-Wallet and Boost. All of them have rewards systems, bill payments, QR Pay, and everything we’re familiar with from e-wallets.
Number Of Downloads: 100K+ on Google Play Store.
Play Store Rating: 3.5 ⭐️ by 2,600 users.
Councils Covered: DBKL, Majlis Perbandaran Kota Bharu Bandar Raya Islam, Majlis Bandaraya Terengganu, Majlis Daerah Machang.
Other Features: General e-wallet features.
What Do Reviews Say?
Pros: Parking payment system was convenient.
Cons: One comment from a year ago said that the app would crash every time he tried choosing his parking location.
Testing It Myself
The parking payment function was straightforward and familiar if you’ve used Boost to pay for street parking before.
It’s simple, does what it needs to do, no other fancy features. Just add your vehicle registration number, choose your location, and pay.
I can actually see why MCash was one of the chosen apps by DBKL in paying street parking.
Malaysia has been pushing for a cashless society since the start of 2020, so this might just be a push for Malaysians to download another homegrown e-wallet app.
4. EZ Smart Park
EZ Smart Park was developed by Laureate System Solutions Sdn. Bhd.
Not much else can be found about the app, other than the fact that its first version was uploaded on the app store on September 29 this year.
Number Of Downloads: 1K+ on Google Play Store.
Play Store Rating: 3.3 ⭐️ by 10 users.
Councils covered: Only DBKL
Other Features: N/A
What Do Reviews Say?
Pros: Instructions are simple to follow.
Cons: Confusing interface.
Testing It Myself
Location detection wasn’t as seamless as the apps above.
If they can’t detect your location automatically, you would have to scroll through their master list of all districts within DBKL.
There’s no search function available either, to my annoyance.
Overall, EZ Smart Park offered one of the poorest user experiences.
Based on the date they were launched—one day before DBKL’s official announcement—it’s safe to assume that this app was developed specifically to pay for DBKL’s street parking only.
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If you’re already a user of JomParking’s, I don’t see much reason to make a switch to the other apps.
If you haven’t yet used a cashless parking app, I still believe it would be worth trying each one to find what suits your needs best.
With our curiosity about these 4 other apps satisfied, we actually had some questions left.
We wondered why JomParking wasn’t one of the apps originally announced, and what the reason behind the delayed announcement was.
So, we’ve reached out to CEO Muhamad Nasir to comment on JomParking’s approval by DBKL and will be updating this story upon receiving his answers.
- You can read about more parking-related companies here.
