Parking rackets are fleecing vehicle owners in all three action areas of New Town, particularly near shopping complexes and activity zones like Axis Mall, Clock Tower and Nazrul Tirtha.
Residents as well as visitors to the township alleged that they had been forced to pay up to five times the parking fees fixed by the New Town authorities.
Swaraj Kumar Das, who stays in New Town’s Action Area II, told Metro that he was charged Rs 30 for parking his two-wheeler at the parking lot adjacent to Nazrul Tirtha on Wednesday evening.
In New Town, the parking rates are Rs 20 an hour for cars and Rs 10 an hour for two-wheelers.
The parking area next to Axis Mall in New Town on Thursday.
In June last year, the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) had decided to allow free parking for 30 minutes in fee parking zones across the township.
The NKDA, which provides civic services to the township, announced the free parking rule after repeated requests from residents.
On Thursday, Das told this newspaper that although he paid Rs 30 — three times the normal parking fee for a two-wheeler — he was handed a slip that had “Per Hour Rs 10/- 2 wheeler” written on it.
“We had gone to check out the library at Nazrul Tirtha. Soon after I had parked the bike, a man claiming to be a parking attendant walked up to me and demanded Rs 30 up front. He said that was the normal rate near Nazrul Tirtha for bikes and asked me to lodge a complaint with the NKDA if I thought I was being fleeced,” Das said.
Das posted the incident on Facebook. He narrated how he had been fleeced and also uploaded photographs of the parking slip and the screenshot of his payment from a mobile wallet.
Several residents of New Town have since commented on the post and narrated similar incidents.
Soumyajit Das, another New Town resident, posted: “This is rampant across New Town.”
There are around 20 NKDA-listed parking zones in New Town and most are located near shopping malls, hospitals, schools and public
places such as Axis Mall, Tata Medical Center, The Newtown School and the Aircraft
Museum.
The parking fees at these lots are collected by private agencies.
The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) gives the contract to run these lots after floating e-tenders, an official said.
Samaresh Das, chairman of the New Town Forum and News, a residents’ body, said there are several places where motorists are being fleeced. Parking fees are also being collected in areas that are not designated as parking zones.
A senior officer at the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate said they had yet to get a complaint. “The parking fees are collected by the NKDA,” the officer said.
NKDA chairman Debashis Sen promised action. “We are converting the parking lots into digital parking areas. The parking fee will get automatically deducted if a vehicle has a FasTag. We will look into this (the parking racket active in New Town),” Sen said.
The digital system has been rolled out in the parking lot opposite the New Town Business Park, near the New Town bus stand, as a pilot project. At least five more parking lots are being converted.