In a major crackdown against errant parking operators, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) has slapped a hefty monetary penalty against two dozen operators besides registering criminal cases against them. The amount of penalty varies from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh.
The penalty on parking operators comes in the wake of revised parking policy which stipulates hefty monetary fines in cases of malpractice. Officials said action was taken following a slew of complaints against surface parking operators in its areas. The operators have been issued showcause notices and slapped with a monetary fine for violation of the terms and conditions of the contractual agreement.
Officials say a majority of the complaints against parking contractors has been of overcharging, related to uniforms, use of handheld devices and display boards. The civic body has slapped monetary fines ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh against the violators. A police complaint has also been registered against a contractor.
“A total of around Rs 10 lakh has been recovered as penalty from contractors found violating the contract of the agreement. All errant parking operators were issued showcause notices but they failed to reply to the notices. Subsequently, penalty was imposed on the contractors. A fine of Rs 2.42 lakh was slapped against a contractor operating in a parking lot at Mori Gate in central Delhi. In one case, the Corporation has registered a police complaint against a contractor operating at Tanga stand in Sadar Bazar for unauthorised parking,” said a senior official, NDMC.
The civic body had allotted the parking lots to new contractors after auctioning them in April this year after the revised parking policy came into effect. The new policy makes it mandatory for contractors to issue parking slips through handheld devices to prevent overcharging, demarcate parking lots to check illegal parking. It is also mandatory that parking attendants are in proper uniform and display relevant information about the contractors and complaint numbers.