Estate Officer inspects Machhi Mandi parking in Amritsar, finds contractor overcharging

Charanjit Singh Teja

Advertisement

Amritsar, June 19

The Estate Officer of the Municipal Corporation conducted inspection at Machhi Mandi parking lot on Saturday and found the contractor overcharging from people. The workers of parking contractor charged Rs 60 from the Estate Officer for parking his car for a few minutes.

Dharminderjit Singh, MC Estate Officer, said he had been getting regular complaints of the parking contractor about overcharging at Machhi Mandi. Earlier, he had asked the field staff to check overcharging, but the issue was not resolved.

“On Saturday, I parked my car at Machhi Mandi parking lot and the parking employee asked me to pay Rs 100. I denied as the rate mentioned for parking car was Rs 60 on the parking ticket issued to me. Then the worker asked to pay Rs 60. I asked him that the actual rate for parking was Rs 30. Then, I interacted with other vehicle owners. They, too, shared that the parking contractor charges Rs 100 and above,” he said.

The Estate Officer said a report of inspection has been prepared and the action would be taken against the contractor on Monday.

As per MC guidelines, the rate list for the parking should be displayed in the lot. At present, there are five parking lots of the Municipal Corporation that are functional, but no contractor has displayed the rate list properly.

It is for the first time in the last few years when an official inspected the parking lot to check overcharging. Otherwise, the MC officials give a free hand to contractors to “fleece” vehicle owners.

The Machhi Mandi parking lot is one of the busiest lots in the city, where parking contractors earn a good amount. The practice of overcharging needs to be checked at other parking lots as well.