Residents are being fleeced by parking contractors in the city. The contractors are charging parking fee as per their own sweet will.
Residents of the city, which is already facing parking crunch, especially during winter, have no other option, but to pay parking fee as per the sweet will of the contractors.
The contractors are charging double than the printed rates on parking slips. Weather it is the parking lot of the commercial hub of Bahu Plaza or the parking near the civil secretariat at Shalamar, the contractors continue to fleece people.
The Jammu Development Authority (JDA), which has given contracts for the parking lots in the city, has fixed the rates for two-wheelers at Rs 5 for first two hours and then Rs 2 for every subsequent hour to the maximum limit of Rs 20. For four-wheelers, it is Rs 10 for the first two hours, Rs 20 for three hours, Rs 30 for four hours, Rs 50 for six hours and Rs 60 for above six hours. But the employees of the contractors charges Rs 10 for two-wheelers and the Rs 20 for cars and never give parking slips unless asked for it.
“I parked my vehicle at Bahu Plaza for about 30 minutes and at the time of exit, a boy on the exit barrier asked for Rs 20. I paid the amount and asked him for the parking slip. He later brought the slip from the counter and wrote the vehicle number on the rate list printed on the slip, which was only Rs 10,” said Abhishek Gupta, a bank employee in Jammu.
“When I protested, he said they charge the same rate from everyone and the slips are old,” he added.
Sources said the parking contractors had good contacts with the contract-giving authorities, due to which they get the contract of parking lots and if someone complains about their mischief, they won’t get punished.
Mubarak Singh, vice-chairman, JDA, said they did not have any mechanism to check such mischievous activities of the contractors and people should pay as per the rates.
“We will ensure that every parking lot displays the rate list and does not overcharge the people,” he said.
Parking lots overcharging residents
