THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In what’s alleged to be a scam, private parking fee collectors are illegally fleecing city residents and vacationers visiting popular tourist spots such as Kanakakunnu Palace and Museum.
Social observers accuse the corporation and the police of turning a blind eye even as unauthorised individuals, posing as traffic wardens, have been extorting exorbitant parking fees from the public.
Visitors to the Kanakakunnu Palace premises are being charged Rs 20 for two-wheelers and Rs 50 for cars for curbside parking, far above the official rates set by the corporation.
“This is daylight robbery,” said Vinod K, a local resident who parked his vehicle in the byroad between the Kerala Water Authority (KW) premises and the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) office.
“There is no uniformity in the parking fees collected across the city; Rs 20 for two-wheeler parking is too much. We are forced to pay this for maybe having a tea that costs only Rs 10 from a wayside shop. Moreover, there are no details of the official body concerned on the receipt I got from a warden. When I asked who was responsible for collecting the fee, the warden had no answer.”
Traffic authorities and local bodies have deployed around 250 traffic wardens for parking fee collection on public roads. However, it is suspected that scamsters are trying to milk the holiday season. Despite complaints from the public, the authorities are yet to budge. “The parking fee in the Museum-Kanakakunnu area is collected by KWA. We are unaware of any illegal parking fee collection,” said an officer at the Museum Police Station.
However, KWA officials clarified that they were not collecting any parking fees without proper receipts. “We are allowing parking within our premises, and it is specifically written in the receipts. We do not collect any fees for roadside parking outside our premises,” said KWA joint managing director Binu Francis.
Meanwhile, efforts to introduce a bylaw for parking facilities by the corporation remain on paper. Senior BJP councillor P Ashok Kumar said the civic body was not making any effort to regulate parking fee collection.
“The corporation has been allotting specific areas to private parties, and they have been fleecing the public, fixing fees as per their wish. The local body has absolutely no control over fee collection,” he said.
Congress councillor P Padmakumar termed it a scam. “This is happening with the knowledge of a few individuals in the ruling front,” he alleged.
Deputy Mayor P K Raju, however, maintained that the corporation was unaware about unauthorised parking fee collection. “We will take this up with the police authorities,” he said.