SoBo parking mafia on police radar, 40 booked

While the crackdown exposes the extent of the racket – and this is just the tip of the iceberg – car owners can breathe a little easier knowing these illegal parking operators are on the police radar

MUMBAI: For motorists hunting for parking space in South Mumbai, the ordeal doesn’t end when they find a spot. Police have registered at least 20 cases in the last six months against unauthorised parking agents, accused of cheating and intimidating motorists.

Mumbai, India - June 11, 2026: Parking below JJ Bridge near Crawford Market, in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, June 11, 2026. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

While the crackdown exposes the extent of the racket – and this is just the tip of the iceberg – car owners can breathe a little easier knowing these illegal parking operators are on the police radar.

The 20 cases registered in the last few months span six police stations, with 40 persons who are part of the parking mafia being arrested for operating illegal parking lots in Crawford Market, Kalbadevi, Fort, Kalaghoda and Colaba.

Satyam Surana, a lawyer who has an office in Vardhaman Chambers in Fort, had lodged a case with the MRA Marg police against two persons who posed as staff of a BMC contractor or were wearing T-shirts of an NGO pretending to have bagged the parking contract for the Kala Ghoda area.

“I had parked my car near Anna Idli restaurant on August 4. After finishing work, I was pulling my car out of the parking lot when a man approached me wearing an NGO’s T-shirt. He even flaunted a ‘BMC identity card’ and demanded ₹500,” recalled Surana.

“I told him there were no yellow lines on the ground, and hence it was a free parking area. He started arguing and also refused to accept digital payment, which made me even more suspicious,” he said.

When Surana tried to start his car, another man joined the first and they started pounding his bonnet, forcing him to call the police control room.

“We have registered a case under sections 318 (cheating), 126 (wrongful restraint) and 351 (criminal intimidation) of the BNS against the accused,” said an officer with the MRA Marg police. A certain Pradeep Shakka was arrested and released on bail.

Surana said, “They come early and block the free parking spaces. Later, when people are forced to park in paid parking spaces, they overcharge. They later even open the free spaces and charge people for parking their cars there when paid parking is full.”

The Azad Maidan police have registered at least six cases for alleged parking rackets at Crawford Market and near Fashion Street in the last six months. Similar cases have been lodged with the MRA Marg police for parking rackets near Kala Ghoda; with the Colaba police station for parking rackets behind the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel; with the LT Marg police for illegal parking in Kalbadevi; and at the Marine Drive police station against similar instances at Nariman Point and Vidhan Bhavan.

“So far, police have booked about 40 people for such offences,” said deputy commissioner of police, Manish Kalwaniya, Zone 1.

Another car owner, Pankaj Gupta, said he was refused a receipt and had been overcharged. “Gupta, who had parked his car at Nariman Point, approached a police constable and asked him why vehicles in a parking zone were being fined. The constable spotted a man taking money and giving receipts to vehicle owners for parking. He wore a T-shirt of Swapna Sakar Mahilla Bachat Gat. But when he was asked to show documents for collecting parking charges, he said he had none,” said a police officer with the Marine Drive police station.

The Azad Maidan police had similarly registered cases in June for illegally parking under the JJ flyover on D N Road and at Crawford Market. The complainants were two taxi drivers who had paid ₹300 and ₹100 respectively and had received no receipts.

“Sometimes, people pay the money demanded by the parking mafia as they believe they will keep an eye on their parked vehicles, which is better than parking randomly on the street. Some Kalbadevi businessmen pay monthly charges to these illegal parking operators as they assure them of ‘reserving’ parking space and watching out for their vehicles,” said an officer with the LT Marg police.

“We have not cancelled any parking contracts but some contracts have come to an end. It is the police who deal with overcharging. If we come to know of any such instances, we take action but this has been happening in the free parking spaces,” a BMC official told HT.