Now, prepare to loosen the purse strings at Ludhiana MC parking lots
Ludhiana MC has introduced a bi-hourly parking charge at lots, replacing the fixed ₹20 and ₹10 charges levied on cars and two wheelers respectively, for the entire day — 6 am to 10pm
A day after the municipal corporation earned ₹3.57 cr by auctioning six parking lots, it has come to light that while the contract brought in a mere 3% more than the reserve price, the revised parking rates are set to help contractors pocket increased profits.
Under the new system, the civic body has introduced a bi-hourly parking charge at lots, replacing the fixed ₹20 and ₹10 charges levied on cars and two wheelers respectively, for the entire day — 6 am to 10pm.
As per the new contract norms, the charge will increase by 50% of the base fee after the completion of every two hours. The base fee remains unchanged.
In addition to the ₹10 and ₹20 for two-wheelers and cars, ₹30 will be charged for commercial three-wheelers and ₹50 for commercial four-wheelers at the start.
Highlighting similar change in rates for monthly passes, Congress leader and former councillor Perminder Mehta said the company set to handle most MC parking lots from November 1 is backed by a contractor whose firms were earlier accused of overcharging at the multi-storey parking lots.
“The contractor has a shady past, those facing complaints of parking clause violations and overcharging, have managed to get the contract. It should be probed how one company managed to get the allotment of multiple parking lots,” the former councillor added.
RTI activist Kuldeep Singh Khaira echoed the sentiment, questioning how four contracts went to a single company.
While LRI labour contractor secured the contract of Ferozepur Gandhi Market and multi-storey parking lot at Zone A by placing the highest bids of ₹1.29 cr and ₹1.11 cr against the reserved price of ₹1.26 cr and ₹1.08 cr respectively.
Bhadaur House parking lot was allotted for ₹34.71 lakh and Sarabha Nagar Market parking lots for ₹30.4 lakh, against the reserve price of ₹31.61 lakh and ₹28.40 lakh.
Arjun Yadav and Company made the highest bid for BRS Nagar parking lots of ₹23.01 lakh, against the reserve price of ₹21.21 lakh, while Sonu Enterprises fetched ₹29 lakh for the Model Town Extension parking lot against the reservice price of ₹26.80 lakh.
Move will make system more transparent: Mayor
Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu, meanwhile, maintained that the parking lot’s auction process was looked after by the MC officials.
“Changes have been done to make the parking system transparent and to end the menace of overcharging,” he said, adding that the parking slips will be allotted to the commuters only through electronic ticketing machines.
