Vehicle owners can breathe easy as the Mysore City Corporation (MCC)
has passed an order making it mandatory for business establishments such
as malls to stop collecting parking fee. The order applies even to
hospitals which charge parking fee to attendants of patients and
visitors.

Acting on complaints from the public about some
commercial establishments collecting “exorbitant” parking fee,
particularly some malls, the Standing Committee on Town Planning of MCC
has proposed to make parking of vehicles free in basements in those
establishments.

Pople used to park their vehicles along the side
of the roads around such places to avoid paying a parking fee, causing
traffic menace. This was another reason for proposing free parking.

Standing
Committee president Nandeesh Pretham said a resolution on ending
parking fee was passed by the committee on March 6 this year and the
council subsequently passed a resolution on May 5, backing the proposal.
MCC Commissioner G. Jagadeesha passed an order in this regard on
November 20 to provide free parking (if any fee was being charged now)
to the visitors with immediate effect.

Mr. Preetham, who had
convened a meeting of the committee here on Monday, said the order has
come into effect and all the establishments have to obey the diktat.
“Whichever commercial establishment has taken building licences from the
MCC, they are bound to obey the rule. The MCC can act against such
establishments if they flout the order,” he said, adding that basements
are not meant for trade if the purpose for which the licence was taken
was for providing parking.

At places in Ittigegud near Mysore
Racecourse, police have put up no-parking signs to avoid traffic snarls
as visitors to a mall used to park their vehicles around the place to
avoid paying a parking fee.

There have been instances of police slapping fines on the vehicle owners for flouting the no-parking rule.

Mr.
Preetham said he will also ensure that commercial establishments which
have converted their basements into “trade” centres change them to
“parking lots” if permission had been taken for the purpose.