Parking fees back on Brigade Road

Parking fees back on Brigade Road
BBMP allows old system to continue till a new contractor is chosen
ATUL CHATURVEDI


The much-appreciated automated parking system is back on Brigade Road. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has directed the Brigade Shops and Establishments Association (BSEA) to reactivate the automated parking system on the road till they finalise the tender process to select a new parking contractor.
Thanks to BBMP Commissioner Bharat Lal Meena, orderly parking is back on this busy road. This order came after BSEA members met him on Wednesday with a request to give them one more opportunity to run the system. As per his order, BSEA deployed its personnel on the road on Thursday and activated the automated parking system. BSEA and BBMP ran this system under the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis for five years between 2004 and June 21 this year and shared revenue on a 50:50 basis. BBMP had got over a crore of rupees as its share.
NO PROFIT IS OKAY
After the five-year contract came to an end, BSEA requested the BBMP to once again consider them to run the system. But BBMP went ahead with the tender process. This being the scene, BSEA came out with another offer to run the system without any profit. Their fear was that if a money-minded individual gets the contract to run the system, he might compromise with the quality of service. BSEA gave this ‘no profit’ offer to BBMP chief on Wednesday and promised to give entire revenue minus the basic expenditure required to run the system to BBMP.