Private parking contractors having it their way at Mumbai parking lots

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have implemented a new set of parking regulations across Mumbai in order to restrict the illegal parking in the city. As per the regulations, if an individual's car is parked in a no-parking zone, then he/she will have to pay a fine of up to ₹10,000 to BMC.

Along with this, if the defaulter does not pay the fine, then the amount of the fine will increase subsequently as long as it is not paid to the municipal corporation. 

Since BMC has numerous parking lots, it has allotted some of them to private contractors, who manage the public parking spots in BMC's stead. However, over the years, the private contractors have shown no regard for the law and keep behaving like goons.

For instance, the parking lot situated at Fort's P.M. Road is allotted to Om Sainath Enterprises. As per the BMC rules, if you park at a public parking spot, the printed bill consists of all details including the parking charge. However, the parking bill at P.M. Road is provided to the consumers with the amount inscribed with the pen.

The whole bill is printed but the amount is printed as 0.00 and the parking fee is inscribed with a pen.

On the other hand, the contract has been provided to Sai Siddhi SB who looks after the Pay & Park facility near the Jahangir Art Gallery. However, the contractors let people park their vehicle on footpaths and yet, no action has been taken against the contractor. The people have complained that the contractor charges them fees for parking their vehicle on the footpath.

While the civic body has taken measures to counter illegal parking, it is vital that it takes necessary action against their faulty private contractors.