MC likely to give in to demand, increase parking fee

Bowing to the pressure of parking contractors, the municipal corporation has proposed to increase the parking fee for four-wheelers to Rs 10 from the existing rate of Rs 5 and two-wheelers Rs 5 from Rs 2. Besides, the MC has also proposed to reduce the bank guarantee of contractors.

The issue will be taken up in the finance and contract committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday for final approval. The MC has also proposed that the contractor will only deposit bank guarantee equivalent to four months installments and two-month cash security. Presently, the contractors are depositing 50% of the bid amount and two installments in advance.
The civic body got the last jolt on September 4 when the contractor of Empire store parking lot in Sector 17 withdrew from the contract.

The civic body has already suffered a loss of Rs 55 lakh from the five parking lots lying vacant for nine months. The contractors complain that the norms were very harsh and they had been running losses for several years now. They demanded that the norms be relaxed.
Speaking to HT, MC additional commissioner Lalit Siwach said: "I have recently assumed the charge and I am aware that contractors are withdrawing due to the terms and conditions. We are planning to relax the norms and the final decision will be taken by F&CC in their meeting scheduled for Tuesday."

The contractor of Empire store parking lot, Fariyad Ali, has giving in writing to the civic body that he could not continue with the contract as he was suffering heavy losses. He had urged the civic body to increase the parking fee and suggested that it should be Rs 5 for every two hours and Rs 10 for parking beyond two hours for every vehicle.

Councilors, meanwhile, feel the MC has not taken any serious step to auction the parking lots. There are 24 paid parking lots in the city from which the MC generates Rs 4 crore annually.
The contract of four paid parking lots expired on December 31 and the MC has not allotted the contract due to low auction price. The parking areas that are yet to be allotted include CMC parking in Sector 17, zone one in Sector 34, Lake Club parking, Medical officer health parking in sector 17 and the parking lot of Sector 9-D. As per officials, the civic body is losing Rs 20,000 daily on account of the failure of MC to auction the parking lots.