Fleecing continues in private parking spaces

Despite repeated instructions from the civic body, private establishments in the city continue to operate parking lots with no legal fee structure or facilities stipulated by the bylaw
Fleecing continues in private parking spaces

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: To curb the fleecing of the public in parking lots, a bylaw insisting that all private parking spaces in the city should secure licences from the corporation and unify charges was passed last year.  However, many private players are yet to seek a licence. 

“Sometimes, we have to refuse a few trips because of the lack of parking spaces available in the city for parking. Having parked in the various available parking spaces in the city, I can vouch that rates vary largely, from Rs 20 to Rs 50 per hours. Moreover, we do not have toilet facilities or basic amenities in such lots where we pay a large amount and wait for hours,” said Rajaram M, a taxi driver from Sreekaryam.

The unified fee as per the bylaw is charged depending on the type of vehicle, the duration of parking and the type of slot provided for the vehicles. According to the bylaw, it is Rs 8 for motor vehicles, Rs 12 for autorickshaws, Rs 15 for a small car, Rs 20 for a big car, Rs 25 for a minivan, Rs 30 for a minibus, Rs 40 for a bus or lorry and Rs 80 for big trucks.

The extra parking spaces secured by hospitals, shops and restaurants in the city to provide additional parking for customers apart from the mandatory parking lots fall under the private parking spaces category. Some land owners who turned their private land to parking lots also fall under the bylaw. Many parking spaces under the city corporation, however, do not follow these regulations.  “Most of the shops have a large customer base and do need the extra parking space.

However, unification of charges is important as, in many cases, different amounts are being charged. We had conducted some raids through revenue inspectors and issued notices to inform the establishments about the mandatory registration. The response has been lukewarm,” said a corporation official. In the first stages of implementation, 16 such parking spaces were registered with the city corporation.

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