Don’t give up parking revenue: UT to MC

Rajinder Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 28

The UT Administration, which had rejected the decision of the MC House to end the paid parking system in the city, has a piece of advice for the civic body: Don’t give up parking revenue.

In its notice issue to the MC under Section 405 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act 1976 for not hiking paid parking charges, the UT Administration stated, “The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation is generating funds for 34 per cent of its budget through internal resources against the Government of India’s norms of 50 per cent for a modern urban local body; and is, therefore, incurring a budget deficit for the last three years. It is important that the MC should not give up its parking revenue and rather supplement it by regulating more spaces as paid parking lots and by nominally increasing its rates.”

The Administration note is now coming up for discussion in the House meeting of the civic body, which is scheduled to be held on November 30.

The Administration has given the Municipal Corporation time till December 4 to submit its reply to its notice.

In the last MC House meeting on October 29, the MC had unanimously rejected the agenda of increasing the paid parking charges in the city.

It had resolved to end the paid parking system and privatise it on the pattern of maintenance of roundabouts in the city.

The House had also turned down a proposal for increasing the number of paid parking lots in the city from 26 to 93.

The House had approved the recommendations of a five-member committee, formed to finalise the terms and conditions for the paid parking lots.