The agency managing the parking of an area will be removed if it is found that more than the stipulated parking rate was being charged, mayor Firhad Hakim warned on Saturday.
Hakim said the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) would also consider illegal any fee collection by any parking attendant who does it without wearing an identity card. The KMC would file police complaints in such cases, he added.
The parking rate fixed by the KMC is Rs 10 an hour for four-wheelers, and Rs 5 an hour for two-wheelers from 7am to 10pm. Outside that period, it is Rs 30 an hour for cars and Rs 10 for bikes.
But across the city parking attendants charge more than what they are supposed to.
In some places, the attendants are so fearless that they even tell the driver that the rate is Rs 50 an hour. The drivers are asked to leave if they contest the rates. In many places, the attendants do not even give a slip that mentions the name of the agency that is managing the parking in that area.
Hakim’s words would mean nothing if they do not translate into action, said a Kolkatan.
“We will install CCTVs in parking lots. If it is found that more than the stipulated rates are charged we will remove the agency managing that parking stretch...,” he said.
Hakim also said that display boards mentioning the parking rates would have to be put up in all parking stretches.
The w has given similar assurance several times in the past.
“What the mayor said is what should be happening, but which rarely happens. Let us see if there is any change over the next few days,” said a Kolkatan.
A KMC official said they had held a meeting recently with the 45 parking agencies that manage various parking lots where they were told that complaints of overcharging will be strictly dealt with.
The agencies were also asked to put up display boards with parking rates mentioned there.
Hakim said action against attendants who overcharge would begin from Monday or Tuesday.