Towing charges hiked by 10 per cent in Pune city

Towing charges for two-wheeler will now be Rs 460 and for four-wheeler Rs 720 respectively. Additional hike on the existing towing fees is Rs 20 for two-wheelers and Rs 40 for four-wheelers

The city police have hiked towing charges by ten per cent for two and four-wheelers parked in no-parking zones. The towing charges for two-wheeler will now be Rs 460 and for four-wheeler Rs 720 respectively.

The city traffic police are finding it challenging to deal with issues like parking beyond specified parking signage on both the sides of the public roads and also a violation of odd-even parking norms. (HT FILE PHOTO)

The charges have been increased as per the contractual agreement between the government and the towing contractor which stipulates a ten per cent increase annually. The additional hike on the existing towing fees is Rs 20 for two-wheelers and Rs 40 for four-wheelers.

Rahul Srirame, DCP traffic, said, “The hike has been initiated as per the agreement signed between the government and the private contractor. The contract stipulates an annual increase in the fine collection by 10 per cent as towing charges for two and four-wheelers.”

According to the traffic branch, the break-up for the towing charges of two-wheelers comprises of Rs 220 for towing charges, Rs 200 as fine and Rs 40 as Goods and Services Tax (GST) fees which together translated to Rs 460. Similarly, for four-wheelers the violators will have to pay Rs 440 as towing charges, Rs 200 as fine and 80 as GST charges totalling Rs 720.

The city traffic police are finding it challenging to deal with issues like parking beyond specified parking signage on both the sides of the public roads and also a violation of odd-even parking norms. Earlier the traffic police-hired tempos used to tow away the wrongly parked vehicle but the method had come in for sharp criticism after which the traffic branch initiated change and brought hydraulic based towing vans into action to prevent damage to the towed vehicles.

The traffic department has replaced the old towing trucks with 25 hydraulic towing vans (for two-wheelers) and ten hydraulic towing vans (for four-wheelers) last year. Every hydraulic towing van is fitted with a camera, global positioning system (GPS), public announcement system, searchlight and a POS terminal. The camera clicks the exact location from where the vehicle was towed and the information is subsequently be uploaded to a central server.

Currently, Vidharbha Infotech Company is engaged in towing away the vehicles parked in the no-parking zones in the city.