Day 1: Motorists taken for a ride

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 19

Overcharging, malpractices and confusion marred the first day of resumption of paid parking at 25 lots in the city.

As part of smart parking, Arya Toll Infra Ltd took over all 25 paid parking lots today. However, there were complaints of fleecing from some places. Most complaints came from the Sukhna Lake parking area.

It was found that some workers, employed under previous contractors, were issuing parking slips to visitors to make money. Though the present charges for two-wheelers and four-wheelers are Rs 2 and Rs 5, respectively, the slips issued by them had inflated rates. This left many visitors puzzled and after realising that they had been cheated, they complained to MC officials.

Acting on the complaints, an MC team carried out inspections and asked the company to keep tabs on those fleecing people. The civic body has formed a team of the enforcement wing to keep an eye on overcharging and malpractices by workers.

MC Joint Commissioner Manoj Khatri said, “We received complaints of overcharging from some places. There were reports that old old slips were issued. We will not allow this to happen and have conveyed this to the company managing the parking lots.”

Sandeep Gora, project coordinator of the firm, said, “There are some mischievous elements who do not want us to succeed. A few workers of old contractors issued slips. We will ensure that this does not happen again.”

The Mumbai-based company has bagged a three-year contract for the 26 parking lots in the city, including the multi-level parking at Sector 17, for Rs 14.78 crore.

Smart parking in three months

During the first three months, the firm will work towards smart parking. There will be a central server for CCTVs and e-ticketing machines at the MC office from where company staff and civic body officials will keep an eye on the parking attendants. Automatic boom barriers will be used. A mobile app will be launched, which will provide the status of parking availability in real time. 

Pay Rs 2 for two-wheeler, Rs 5 for four-wheeler

MC officials said motorists should not pay more than Rs 2 for two-wheelers and Rs 5 for four-wheelers. These rates will remain in force for three months and will be revised in October.