South corp says no to parking charge hike

In a relief to car owners of south Delhi, the local civic agency is in no mood to hike the parking charges. It has even snubbed a direction by the Lieutenant-Governor’s office to implement revised rates.

In a relief to car owners of south Delhi, the local civic agency is in no mood to hike the parking charges. It has even snubbed a direction by the Lieutenant-Governor’s office to implement revised rates.

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At a standing committee meeting of the South Corporation on Tuesday, chairman Rajesh Gehlot said, “We are not implementing these revised parking rates. We have to think of the people who have elected us. We can’t put additional burden on them.”

Under the new guidelines, the parking rate for the first 30 minutes for a four-wheeler is R10, followed by R20 for an hour and R50 for three hours. For two-wheelers, it is Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 25 in the respective categories.

The move came after a special task force — formed on the orders of Delhi High Court to take stock of the Capital’s traffic issues — recommended that parking charges be hiked as it would discourage the use of private vehicles.

“The L-G approved this recommendation and directions were issued to all civic agencies to implement the new parking rate structure throughout Delhi. The three municipal corporations are bound to implement the change,” a corporation official said.

According to sources, the municipal bodies are wary of implementing the parking charges for the fear of backlash in a year when the Delhi Assembly goes to the polls.

The remunerative project (RP) cell of the South Corporation currently operates 73 authorised parking lots and is in the process of issuing fresh tenders for more than 50 parking sites in its jurisdiction.