Ghaziabad civic body’s unreviewed tender for parking lots raises eyebrows

Some councillors allege this will lead to a single operator’s monopoly and almost double the parking rates, while others claim the move will discourage illegal parking operators

The decision of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation to float a tender in order to draw bids for one company to operate about 35 parking lots (some of which could be newly constructed) in the city before the proposal is approved by the corporation board has raised a few eyebrows, as some councillors allege this will lead to a single operator’s monopoly and almost double the parking rates, while others claim the move will discourage illegal parking operators.

Many parking lots are operated on the roadside in front of hospitals, and government offices. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Presently, the corporation operates several authorised parking lots in the city--one in Mohan Nagar zone, 44 in Vasundhara zone and 10 in Kavi Nagar zone--and charges ₹20 for four-wheelers, ₹10 for two-wheelers and ₹5 for bicycles. Many are operated on the roadside in front of hospitals, and government offices and are marred by a lack of space and infrastructure.

According to the new proposal, the rates will go up to ₹40 and ₹20 respectively for four-wheelers and two-wheelers for the first two hours, and an additional ₹20 and ₹10, respectively, will be charged every hour thereafter. The rates for bicycles have not been decided yet.

The new system aims to provide an app through which the vehicle owners will be able to find vacant parking lots. The corporation has kept the base price of the bids at ₹7.5 crore per year.

The move has not gone down well with some councillors, while others are in favour of the new setup with some modifications.

“The bids have been initiated without any discussion in the board. The new system will hike the rate of parking and create a monopolistic setup if a single operator is allowed. Instead, we propose that parking lots be auctioned zone-wise (Ghaziabad has five zones--Vasundhara, Mohan Nagar, Vijay Nagar, City, Kavi Nagar). This sounds like one of the corporation’s steps to increase the cost of living. This includes the proposal for hiking the house tax as per the new structure,” Rajendra Tyagi, councillor from Raj Nagar, said.

Other councillors, meanwhile, said that the move will discourage illegal parking operators, but albeit there must be a reduction in parking rates.

“The move will bring in correct revenues to the corporation and there will be no overcharging from residents. But there is a major issue--most of the corporation’s parking lots have limited spaces. The new proposal will discourage the parking mafia who operate illegally in many areas. The new setup should be considered and we will surely try to get the newly proposed parking rates reduced,” Himanshu Mittal, councillor from Kavi Nagar, said, adding that the present parking lots were not given to operators through bids but operated on a per day payment basis, which was deposited to the corporation.