Delhi may soon become the only city in the country to have parking meters for mechanised parking on the lines of top world cities.

A meeting presided over by chief secretary Rakesh Mehta on Monday cleared a pilot project for installation of parking meter in congested Karol Bagh area to ensure optimal use of parking space and streamline the entire system.

Officials said parking meters are used as a tool for enforcing integrated on-street parking rules.

A parking meter is a device used to collect money in exchange for the right to park a vehicle in a particular place for a limited amount of time.

If implemented, a vehicle owner will be able to park his car in a parking space by just inserting a currency note into a machine or by swiping a credit card or smartcard into a slot. The machine provides detail of available parking space and other related information.

Some parking meters have a sensor that can determine when a parking space has been vacated.

Officials said although the proposal of the unified traffic and transportation infrastructure centre (UTIPEC) which functions under DDA, has been cleared, the final go-ahead has to be given by the municipal corporation of Delhi.

A German company gave a presentation to the chief secretary on Monday on how a parking meter can improve the entire traffic management.

If implemented, Delhi will be the first city in the country to have introduced parking meter.