BHUBANESWAR: With illegal collection of parking fees remaining a menace in the city, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to introduce electronic ticketing machines (ETMs) in all parking lots to bring transparency in the system.
BMC Commissioner Vijay Amruta Kulange said steps are being taken to introduce ticketing machines in all parking lots in next 15 days. “The civic body will do away with manual ticketing once the ETMs are introduced. We will also take action against the vendors issuing manual ticket after the new system is put in place,” Kulange said.
He said the e-ticketing will help in streamlining the parking service in the city and also ensure transparency in collection of parking fees. The civic body is also planning to provide POS machines to selected vendors to collect parking fees to encourage digital transaction.
BMC deputy commissioner for revenue Sapan Kumar Nanda said the civic body has 84 parking lots under its control. Around 50 per cent of these have been auctioned and being managed by private vendors, while steps are being taken for auctioning of other lots.
Currently the ETM facility has been introduced in certain parking lots on Janpath road. It will be extended to other parking lots in the Capital City within a fortnight as a smart city initiative. Accordingly, BMC has roped in Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) to implement the project, Nanda said.
Nanda said based on complaint, enforcement was also carried out in Unit -II market building area and other nearby localities to crackdown on issuance of forged tickets. Nanda also said that the manual tickets issued at present bear a serial number. Strong action will be taken against those who issue forged ticket.
He urged people to inform and alert civic body about such forged ticket and illegal collection, if detected anywhere, for necessary action at their end. Officials said as per the new norms, around 10 per cent of the total parking area in Unit-I and five per cent at other places have also been earmarked for free parking of bicycles.