The Indian Express              27.06.2013

Now, pay Rs 5 hourly to park car in Sec 17

Acceding to the demands of traders, Municipal Corporation has agreed
to change the charges for hourly parking that were proposed for two
parking lots in Sector 17 market. Shoppers will now have to pay Rs 5 for
the first four hours to park their cars. They will pay Rs 10 for every
hour after that.

This decision was taken in MC’s Finance and Contract
Committee meeting held today. The F&CC in a meeting held last month
had proposed Rs 5 for the first two hours and Rs 10 subsequently for
every hour. However, this was opposed by the traders.

The area councillor Pardeep Chhabra moved a fresh proposal with the
demand that Rs 5 be charged for first four hours. This was taken up for
discussion today and was agreed to. For two-wheelers, the rate is Rs 2
for the first four hours.

The civic body is in the midst of complete automation of
the two paid parking lots. These would include the Empire Store parking
as well as parking lot near Sahib Singh. With this, parking would be
allowed as per availability of parking slots. Those parking would be
issued an electronically produced slip displaying the time based on
which the user will have to pay.

Chhabra, who is also a member of F&CC said the
decision would benefit traders as well as visitors to the area. “I held
several meetings with traders who raised the demand that the parking
rates should be Rs 5 for the first four hours. I then moved the agenda
and the demand has been accepted,” he said.

The traders had opposed the move to have hourly charges
claiming they were already facing stiff competition from the malls.
After the opening of several new malls in the city, the crowd has
shifted from Sector 17 which was the main commercial hub.