Admn pulled up over entry fee charged by parking contractors

The Punjab and Haryana High Court took the UT Administration to task on Wednesday over the parking fee being charged from commuters for merely entering a parking lot, even if they do not actually keep vehicles there.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Jasbir Singh was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Ajay Jagga. The PIL seeks directions to ensure that parking fee should not be charged on the movement of vehicles on a public road in any market area unless the vehicle is actually parked in the slots adjoining the passage.

“How can you insist on charging a person who has not even parked the car in a parking area? How have you allowed all this to take place in the city?” Thakur asked the counsel appearing for the Administration.

Responding to the query, the law officer submitted that this had been done to reduce heavy traffic in parking areas. “We are spoilt so much that we tend to take our vehicles to the very shop or building we are visiting,” said the law officer.

parking area.”

The Chief Justice disapproved of the fact that parking contractors posted their employees to put barricades and stop vehicles from entering the parking area until the fee was paid. He asked: “Suppose a person has come to drop someone or is waiting to pick up someone, does that mean you will charge parking fee from him too?”

The court asked the Administration to look into the issue seriously and ensure that those who entered a parking area but did not park vehicles should not be forced to pay any fee. “Putting a barricade and asking people to pay is not done,” the Chief Justice remarked.

Giving instance of illegal parking fee charged by contractors in Delhi, the Chief Justice told the UT counsel that it should ensure that illegal contractors are not allowed to function.

“These contractors have their own techniques. In Delhi, there were unauthorised contractors. Some people just occupy a parking area and keep their hoodlums and start charging money,” said Thakur.

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