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New contractor takes over Ludhiana mini-secretariat parking, visitors allege fleecing right from Day 1
As per the terms of the contract, which has been accessed by Hindustan Times, the parking fee officially fixed for a two-wheeler is ₹10 while for a four-wheeler, it is ₹20 for four hours. But the contractor was charging ₹20 for a two-wheeler and ₹40 for a four-wheeler on Thursday, say visitors at Ludhiana mini-secretariat
On the very first day of taking over the operations of multi-level parking lot at Ludhiana mini-secretariat, the new contractor was seen blatantly fleecing visitors right under the nose of senior administrative officials, including the deputy commissioner whose office is in the same complex.
As per the terms of the contract, which has been accessed by Hindustan Times, the parking fee officially fixed for a two-wheeler is ₹10 while for a four-wheeler, it is ₹20 for four hours. But the contractor was charging ₹20 for a two-wheeler and ₹40 for a four-wheeler on Thursday.
Also manual receipts of civil hospital’s parking lot were being issued to the visitors at mini secretariat, even though the contract makes it mandatory to issue computerised receipts (through e-ticketing machines) with the parking fee mentioned on the same.
The administration had blacklisted the previous contractor in March for failure to submit the installment of parking contract and fleecing visitors. Intriguingly, the parking receipts with the name of the previous contractor - Jai Shree Bala Ji were being issued by the new contractor on Thursday.
Harveer Singh, a resident who had come with his son to get his driving licence renewed, said, “We parked our car for only an hour and were charged ₹40. No proper receipt was issued by the parking staff.”
Sajan Singh, another visitor, said, “I was charged ₹20 for parking my motorcycle. The public cannot get into an argument with the contractor’s staff as they tend to misbehave. But authorities should take strict action against such illegal practices. What’s shocking is that it’s happening right outside the office of the deputy commissioner.”
Minky Sahni, who was managing the parking, denied the allegations of overcharging and said, “We will try to fulfill all the terms of the contract and give proper facilities to the visitors.”
Additional deputy commissioner (general) Rahul Chaba said, “There must have been some confusion as the contract was issued just yesterday (Wednesday). We have strictly directed the new contractor to put up banners bearing official rates/parking fees and issue receipts via computerised machine. It will be made sure that the new contractors adhere to the contract terms otherwise we will take stern action,” he added.
The auction for the parking lot was held on August 10 (Wednesday) and the contract (from August 10, 2022 to March 31, 2023) was awarded to Krishna Sahni for ₹44.05 lakh.
