If you're wondering how to pay street parking in KL, the answer is a phone app. DBKL, the city hall, stopped taking payment at roadside machines on 1 October 2020, and street parking in KL has been paid through approved apps and e-wallets since. Selangor's councils work the same way, with their own apps. The catch for drivers is that the list of approved apps changes, and it changed in PJ, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam and Selayang in 2025.
Which app for which council
| Area | Council | How you pay (November 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Kuala Lumpur | DBKL | DBKL-approved apps and e-wallets, including Flexi Parking, EZ KL Smart Park and Touch 'n Go eWallet. JomParking stopped being accepted in January 2025. |
| Petaling Jaya | MBPJ | The app of the council's parking concessionaire. A new concessionaire took over in PJ, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam and Selayang on 1 August 2025. |
| Subang Jaya | MBSJ | As PJ. MBSJ lists Flexi Parking and Smart Selangor Parking among its payment systems. |
| Shah Alam | MBSA | As PJ. |
| Selayang | MPS | As PJ. |
| Other councils | Their own | Read the signboard at the bay. |
Apps come and go from these lists, so treat the signboard next to the bay as the final word. It names the council and the payment options it takes.
Paying, step by step
- Park in a marked bay and read the board: the council, the hours parking is charged, and whether it's a limited-time zone.
- Open the app the board names, or one you know that council accepts, and top up if it uses credit.
- Enter the plate number exactly as it is on the car, including any letters at the end.
- Pick the duration. If the app lets you extend from your phone, start short.
- Keep the confirmation until you're back at the car. If a compound turns up later, the in-app record is your proof.
In a car that isn't yours, check the plate against the number plate itself, not against memory.
Two PJ rules to know
In Petaling Jaya, reserved bays are painted red and rented by businesses. Until 2026 they opened to the public after office hours and at weekends; MBPJ announced that from 2026 they become 24-hour reserved bays. Don't park in a red bay unless it's yours.
PJ also has two-hour limited zones in some commercial areas, such as Section 52. Check the board for a time limit before you settle in for a long lunch.
When the app is down
In July 2026 a cyberattack took the Flexi Parking and Smart Selangor Parking apps offline, and the Selangor government told its councils to stop issuing parking compounds until the service came back. That was a one-off instruction, not a rule. If your app fails, screenshot the error with the time on it, try another app the council accepts, and keep the screenshot.
Parking a Grandpride rental car
A parking compound is issued against the plate, so it goes to the car's registered owner first, and on a Grandpride rental car it then comes back to the renter. How that's handled is CHECK: how Grandpride passes on a parking compound for a rental car, and whether there's a handling fee. Our guide on who pays traffic fines on a rental car explains how it works for camera and police summonses too.
Use your own phone and app account, enter the rental car's plate, and pay as you would for your own car. The Touch 'n Go card that comes with a Grandpride rental is a physical card for tolls and car park barriers; street parking needs an app on your phone.
Malls are different
Mall car parks, like the ones at KLCC or Mid Valley, run their own systems at the barrier, separate from council street parking. Our guides to parking in Kuala Lumpur and Mid Valley parking cover those. If you'd rather not deal with parking at all for an evening in town, a chauffeur drops you at the door and waits.
