Towing trouble: A deterrent for wrong parking or extortion?

Towing trouble: A deterrent for wrong parking or extortion?
Deccan Herald

The government should tackle the ‘parking mafia’ in the City, demanded the members in the Legislative Council on Thursday.

Towing away vehicles from ‘No Parking’ zone is a deterrent to the citizens. But it is also serving as a lucrative means of extortion.

The government should tackle the ‘parking mafia’ in the City, demanded the members in the Legislative Council on Thursday.

“The penalty for wrong parking is Rs 100, while towing charge is Rs 200, which is exorbitant. While, people complain of harassment when they go to get the vehicles released. The police personnel have been extorting more money and this is more prevalent in areas like Malleswaram, Gandhinagar among others.”

“We suspect even the towing vehicles are owned by the police personnel who are giving them on contract to the department,” alleged Prakash Rathod (Cong).

Dr L Hanumanthaiah (Cong) supported it by saying, “It is hard to believe that Bangalore has only 21 private towing vehicles. And towing is at its peak to enhance collection rather than check wrong parking. Two-wheelers are badly handled by the towing team.”

Parking mafia

Despite, the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) scrapping the parking fee, there is a major parking mafia in areas like Gandhinagar, Church Street, MG Road, Russel Market and airport. “A person who enters the airport premises to drop a relative or friend is forced to cough up Rs 50 even if he does not park his vehicle,” alleged Saleem Ahmed (Congress).

R V Venkatesh (Congress) drew attention to the lack of ‘No Parking’ signages across the City, which is causing confusion among the citizens.

“People have to be consulted before introducing no parking or parking zones or even one-way. At many places there are hardly any signages to guide people.”

Assurance

“The police commissioner will be asked to inquire into the issue to detect any ‘benami’ towing vehicles. We will check if any tender norms have been violated,” Home Minister M P Prakash promised.