Parking loot: Contractors, traffic cops milk BCC dry

Parking loot: Contractors, traffic cops milk BCC dry
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: The contractor and Bangalore traffic police nexus seems to be drying Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) hollow. Almost every parking stretch in the city is underestimated in terms of collections, and so the BCC has awarded parking rights for pittance.

Some city fathers call it a loot. The BCC gets an annual revenue of Rs.4.28 crore - just a fraction of what contractors earn.

Most of the sanctioned 125 parking lots in the City are given to contractors way below the actual collection potential, thanks to the traffic police who certify many roads as low traffic density zones.

Contractors use the police estimates to make a killing. Some 25 lakh vehicles ply the 4, 000 km of Bangalore roads and are exploited by contractors to get the parking lots for a song.

Most of the parking lots are “sub-let” – contractor passing it to a sub-contractor, and since these men may have paid a huge sum, they seldom give receipts to vehicle owners.

“When I parked my car in Gandhinagar area yesterday, the attendant demanded Rs. 10 for one hour’s parking. When I asked for receipt he took Rs. 5 asked me to leave,” said a motorist.

Most of the parking lots have no sign boards indicating the name of the contractor and the parking fee.

Though the BCC says that complaints on parking lots will be dealt with seriously, a motorist running on a busy schedule finds it difficult to run behind his complaint in BCC.

However, Mayor Narayanaswamy has come up with an idea to save Bangaloreans the trouble.

“I am considering the inclusion of annual parking fees in the property tax as all the property owners have vehicles. And this will eliminate the corrupt nexus between the contractors and the BCC officials.”