The Hindu 12.08.2013
Commissioner urged to sort out parking fee issue in malls
With motorists being charged parking fee in malls of the
city, physician and RTI activist M.C. Sindhur has urged the
Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Commissioner (HDMC) to sort out the
issue.
The Deputy Director of Town Planning, HDMC,
had issued show-cause notices to two malls in the city stating that
there was no provision under the law for collecting parking fee from
motorists in commercial establishments like malls and multiplexes.
In
spite of this, the practice of collecting parking fee has continued.
“These commercial buildings are given completion certificates by the
Municipal Corporation, which is the competent authority to do so.
Permission is given to construct multi-storeyed buildings for commercial
purpose as per the law.
And under the law, parking
space is mandatory for all commercial complexes, malls, multiplexes and
high-rise buildings with respect to their floor area and size of
building under construction,” he wrote.
Dr. Sindhur
pointed out that in case of commercial and office buildings, 25 per cent
of additional parking space was required to be provided in addition to
the parking standards specified in the parking regulations for visitors’
vehicles.
He said these were exclusive parking spaces meant for commercial buildings and were not ‘private paid parking places’.
He
urged the Commissioner to clarify whether the owners of these
establishments had any legal right to collect parking fee from visitors
and if not why no action was being taken against them. The RTI activist
has urged the Commissioner to ensure people were not fleeced in in
commercial malls.
Opinion sought
HDMC
sources revealed that the HDMC had received a reply from the owners of
malls and multiplexes, in which they had reportedly justified collecting
the fee, terming it as required for maintenance of the parking lot. The
sources revealed that the opinion of the corporation’s legal cell has
been sought and further action would be taken based on legal advice.
