Question 1

Who counts as a 'resident' for a resident parking card?

Accepted Answer

A natural person with permanent residence (trvalý pobyt) in a flat in the locality, using the car for private purposes. That trvalý pobyt condition is the rule that surprises people: living in the flat is not enough — your permanent residence must be registered at that address. Tenants without it cannot get a rezidentská karta (see the abonent options below).

Question 2

How many cards per flat, and what do they cost?

Accepted Answer

Up to three resident cards per flat. The first card costs €35 a year in the centre (lokalita A) and €20 a year in the residential localities. The second and third cards start from €100 and €200 a year — and by the ordinance they get more expensive every summer: each 1 July from 2025 to 2029 the second card rises by €10 and the third by €40 against the previous period.
Seniors (62+) and people with severe disabilities pay €5 for their first card. Check the current figure for your locality at parking.kosice.sk before applying.

Question 3

Is street parking on my sídlisko paid today?

Accepted Answer

No. Sídlisko KVP, Sídlisko Ťahanovce, Dargovských hrdinov (Furča), Nad jazerom, Juh, Sever and Západ (Terasa) form what the ordinance calls a 'temporary resident locality' — street parking there is free. The city may mark individual bays reserved for bonus-card holders (the list lives in the operating rules on parking.kosice.sk), but the general bays are unregulated.

Question 4

When does regulated parking reach Sídlisko KVP?

Accepted Answer

On 1 March 2027. It was originally due on 1 March 2026, but after a petition signed by nearly 1,600 KVP residents — questioning the system's readiness and the estate's parking capacity — the city council voted in January 2026 to postpone the start by a year. Before the vote the city also announced the 'KVP-100' project, about a hundred new parking spaces on the estate.

Question 5

I already bought a KVP resident card — is the money wasted?

Accepted Answer

No. The city said cards already issued for KVP simply start their validity on 1 March 2027 — and anyone who prefers can return the card for a full refund instead.

Question 6

Is it true resident cards are getting free hours for visitors?

Accepted Answer

On 12 May 2026 the city council approved a wider change to the ordinance, due to take effect 1 January 2027 in every regulated zone (Sídlisko KVP follows on its own March 2027 date). Each resident card will carry an allowance of free visitor hours — 100 hours a year for a resident who has a car, 200 hours for one who doesn't — that covers a guest's parking without them paying at the machine. The change also lets a card's registered number plate be swapped weekly, for households that rotate a company or borrowed car. At review time the amendment still awaited the mayor's signature to become final, so check parking.kosice.sk before relying on the exact date.

Question 7

I live here without trvalý pobyt — what are my options?

Accepted Answer

The resident and bonus cards both require permanent residence, so without it you have: an abonent card — type NÁJOMCA for registered tenants or VLASTNÍK for flat owners, priced at the level of a second resident card, with half-price variants in defined cases; a band abonent card for a tariff band (from €400 a year for the N band up to €2,400 for A1); or simply paying the ordinary tariff. Details and applications at parking.kosice.sk.

Question 8

What is the bonus card?

Accepted Answer

A €5-a-year discount card for anyone with permanent residence anywhere in Košice (up to three per person, each tied to one number plate, private use only). It cuts the base parking rate by 25 % at ticket machines and 35 % in the payment apps, and it lets you use the bays marked bonus-card-only on the estates. It is the card most Košičania actually want — the resident card only matters once your own street is regulated.

Question 9

When is parking free for everyone?

Accepted Answer

Sundays and Slovak days of rest in every band; Saturdays too in the BN, CN and N bands (the centre's A1/A2 charge Monday–Saturday). And the estates listed above are free until regulation reaches them. Rates, hours and a cost calculator are on the Parking Zones & Cost page.

Question 10

Why does the city run parking — what happened to EEI?

Accepted Answer

Košice handed street parking to the private operator EEI in 2012; the courts later ruled that lease invalid, the Constitutional Court sided with the city, and since the handover the city has been the sole operator, with the meters and cards managed through parking.kosice.sk. The city and EEI are still in court over money — a running saga in the local press, but it no longer affects how you park.

Parking Cards & the KVP Rollout

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