The steel city will have a dedicated toll-free number to address parking woes from this month.

Acting on the directive of East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Ravi Shankar Shukla, Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC), the civic body overseeing amenities like parking in company (Tata) command areas, has initiated steps for a dedicated toll-free number.

The administration has also directed the JNAC to ensure parking contractors delete the line “parking at owner’s risk” from the counterfoil of the payment receipt.

A source in the district administration said these directives were issued after repeated complaints from commuters about employees of parking contractors “misbehaving” at dedicated parking bays in the commercial hub of the city.

“There have been complaints from several quarters about misbehaviour on the part of the staff of parking contractors. There are instances in parking bays when vehicles have been damaged and parking staff have expressed ignorance about damage stating they are only responsible for parking and not the security of vehicles parked. People have complained why they should pay parking fees if the parking contractors claim in writing no responsibility for damages of vehicles parked in the bays. All these made the administration direct a dedicated toll-free number which will function throughout the day and get the line ‘parking at owners’ risk’ deleted at the earliest,” said the source.

East Singhbhum additional deputy commissioner Sourabh Kumar Sinha, speaking to The Telegraph on Saturday, said that on Friday they directed JNAC special officer (Krishna Kumar) to start a dedicated toll-free number very soon in the city only for parking grievances.

“The officer has been asked to get the toll-free number functional by this month. JNAC has promised to get the process completed from BSNL,” said Sinha.

JNAC traffic advisory panel had planned a parking colour code such as green (far from street/market), yellow (nearer to market), orange (nearest) and red (no parking) and a variable tariff for various colours.

Currently, the parking charges vary between Rs 5 and 10 for two-wheelers while charges for four-wheelers are between Rs 10 and Rs 20.