Old Clip, New Confusion: No, Colombo Has Not Suspended Its Parking Fees

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It looked like a rare piece of good news for anyone driving into the capital: a video, dressed up as a fresh announcement, claimed the Colombo Municipal Council had suspended all parking fees in the city with immediate effect and told motorists to stop paying. It spread quickly, and left drivers genuinely unsure whether they still had to pay. We checked where the clip really came from. Here is what we found.

Social Media Posts

The video and posts told motorists that, because parking-fee collection in Colombo had been suspended with immediate effect, they should not pay for parking anywhere.

Using frames from this video, Facebook posts circulated with captions like “Even if it’s only for a few days, it’s a relief for people,” framing it as a recent decision, as seen here.

Fact Check:

Checking mainstream media reports and the Colombo Municipal Council itself for any recent suspension of parking-fee collection, we found no such report.

Tracing the Ada Derana video used in the post, we found it was actually published several months earlier, on March 18, 2026.

Facebook

This confirms the clip is not recent but an old video from March 18, 2026, being re-shared. At that time, the Colombo Municipal Council had temporarily suspended parking fees to ease the severe traffic congestion caused by long queues at fuel stations. 

Once the government’s QR-code system and vehicle-number rationing eased the fuel queues and congestion, that temporary relief which lasted only 5 days, was withdrawn from 6:00 AM on March 23, 2026. From that date, fee collection resumed as normal with the approval of the Council’s Finance Committee, as reported at the time here, here and here.

Colombo Municipal Council

We contacted Colombo Mayor Vraie Cally Balthazaar, who stressed that no parking-fee suspension is currently in effect within the city and that all drivers must pay parking fees as usual.

She confirmed the circulating video is an old clip and urged social media users not to share such misleading content, since it risks misinforming the public. The Colombo Municipal Council also published a Facebook post about the misleading video shown below.

Current Parking Fees in Colombo City

Under the revised parking-fee structure implemented by the Colombo Municipal Council from February 2025, the first 10 minutes of parking in any public area are free. Fees apply only after that grace period, based on vehicle type, as follows:

• Motorcycles: Rs. 20 per hour.
• Three-wheelers: Rs. 40 per hour.
• Cars and dual-purpose vehicles, including vans: Rs. 70 per hour.
• Buses, coaches and lorries: Rs. 100 per hour.

These charges apply daily from 6:00 AM to midnight, with no fees on Poya days or special government holidays. Late payment attracts penalties, and once more than three unpaid parking tickets accumulate against a vehicle, the Council is empowered under Gazette No. 2029/29 dated July 26, 2017 to wheel-clamp it.

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Conclusion

The video claiming that the Colombo Municipal Council has suspended parking-fee collection in the city is false. Colombo Mayor Vraie Cally Balthazaar has confirmed the Council has taken no such decision recently.

The clip is in fact an old video showing a temporary arrangement from several months ago, now being recirculated. Parking fees in Colombo continue to be charged as usual. We urge the public not to share or believe such misleading, fabricated posts. We rate the claim as false.