BENGALURU: Following frequent complaints from the public about the absence of proper tariff boards at parking lots of railway stations in the city, Bangalore Railway Division has recently ordered all contractors to display such boards at three prominent spots within the premises. According to the order issued by Senior Divisional Commercial Manager N S Sridharamurthy, the board should specify the station name, the GST charged, GST number and the tariff.
The order has also specified that computerised bar-coded coupon needs to be issued with handheld terminals by the staff at the parking lot. According to sources, “The real reason behind the order is that complaints regarding overcharging by parking contractors were received from almost all stations.”Elaborating on a recent incident which upset the Bengaluru Railway Division, the source said, “A vigilance team from Hubballi was charged Rs 80 for parking its vehicle at the parking lot of KSR railway station when the actual cost was only Rs 60.”
The Railway Division has also ordered for special drives to be conducted by its staff at all stations to ensure orders are being complied with. Rajesh P, who parked his vehicle at the back entry of Yeswanthpur railway station last week after taking a Metro train from Yelachenahalli said, “When I took my vehicle back later in the evening, I was asked to pay Rs 50. It was clearly very high. I protested and the staff there said I was free to leave my vehicle here and go home.”
Some individuals who were removing their vehicles from the KSR railway station too felt they were overcharged. “My ticket to Hosur from KSR station was much cheaper than the parking fare. I paid Rs 30 for two hours of parking here,” said K Manjunath. Many on Twitter too spoke of being overcharged at Yesvantpur and KSR railway stations.
Passengers spoken to at Cantonment railway station though did not seem to have complaints.“I was charged Rs 10 for two hours which is quite reasonable I think,” said S. Ramamurthy. Krishnamoorthy, who parks his vehicle twice a week at Cantonment parking lot before boarding a train to Mysuru in connection with work said, “Whenever, I park my vehicle for 24 hours, I am charged Rs 40. I think that is the correct fare.”
