Parking rackets are fleecing owners of four-wheelers and two-wheelers at a time many men and women are avoiding getting on public transport as a precaution against Covid-19.

Parking “agents” in several parking zones in New Town — including the ones in front of Axis Mall, near Central Mall and on the Ring Road of Eco Park — are collecting exorbitant fees.

The parking zones in front of Axis Mall and on the Ring Road are run by New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) employees, while a private agency has been hired to collect parking fees from vehicles in front of Central Mall.

Apart from that, a group of “agents” has set up unauthorised parking zones on roads leading to Axis Mall and Central Mall. The parked cars constrict the carriageways, triggering bottlenecks.

The parking rates fixed by the NKDA are Rs 10 an hour for four-wheelers and Rs 5 an hour for two-wheelers.

People who are commuting to New Town as well as residents of the township said the rate chart was hardly followed.

The Telegraph drove around New Town on Tuesday and saw parking “agents” take anything from Rs 20 to Rs 50 an hour for cars and between Rs 10 and Rs 20 an hour for two-wheelers.

After driving through nearly all major thoroughfares and visiting at least five such “parking lots”, a board announcing the parking charges was spotted opposite Axis Mall's main gate in Action Area I. But the part where the rates for four-wheelers were written was covered by black paint.

This newspaper also asked several “agents” to show their identity cards but none had any.

“This weekend I was forced to cough up Rs 30 although I had parked my car for barely 45 minutes in front of Axis Mall,” said Sudhakshina Sinha.

NKDA chairman Debashis Sen said: "We will look into this immediately.” An officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said they too would look into the matter.