The Hindu 27.08.2014
Parking contractors in Karol Bagh fined Rs.7 lakh
Parking contractors in Karol Bagh were fined Rs.7 lakh on Tuesday for overcharging customers, collecting fees in free-parking zones and encroaching on the road.
Five parking contractors in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation’s Karol Bagh Zone were hauled up for a range of irregularities when officials conducted a surprise check.
Karol Bagh Wards Committee chairperson Rajesh Bhatia, who spearheaded the drive, said this was the “biggest such raid in the history of the Corporation”.
“I’ve done two raids on parking sites before, but this was the biggest. We even handed over the parking attendants to the police, apart from penalising the contractors,” said Mr. Bhatia.
Referring to past cases of Corporation officers tipping off the contractors, Mr. Bhatia said the team took private cars and officials were asked to leave their phones behind. The team, which included Zonal Deputy Commissioner Dharmendra Kumar, inspected parking at Gaffar Market, Ajmal Khan Road, Arya Samaj Raod, Padam Singh Road, Saraswati Marg and PVR Naraina.
Two parking sites on Ajmal Khan Road were raided, with one of them being a free-of-charge facility. Four people were found illegally charging people at this site. At the legal parking on the same road, customers were being charged as much as Rs.100 for a spot, whereas the authorised rate is Rs.10.
In the Gaffar Market parking, the contractor had gone beyond the authorised limit. At the Arya Samaj Road and Padam Singh Road parking sites, people were being overcharged and attendants were not wearing their uniforms or carrying handheld receipt devices
In one of the more blatant cases, the PVR Naraina parking, which is opposite a police station, eight attendants were caught red-handed overcharging customers. They were handed over to the police for investigation.
On Monday, The Hindu had reported on the widespread harassment of customers at parking sites under the North Corporation. The civic body had last week declared 19 sites as free-parking zones, but a reality check found that parking attendants were still collecting money in some of these.
