Parking attendants continue to overcharge car owners on Calcutta’s streets despite promises from the new BJP government to curb traffic violations and following police raids against illegal parking.
Metro visited two parts of Calcutta on Sunday afternoon, and the parking attendants asked to pay more than the stipulated rates at both places.
A parking attendant on Rashbehari Avenue, near Basanti Devi College, asked for ₹20 an hour. A parking attendant on Park Street, opposite Park Hotel, demanded ₹50 an hour for parking on a double line. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) stipulated rates are ₹10 an hour for cars.
A senior KMC official said the civic body has the power to punish parking cooperatives that are found to be overcharging.
“We can take action against errant parking cooperatives. People who had to pay more can complain to us,” said the official.
After assuming charge, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari had emphasised the need to curb traffic violations and instructed the police to crack down on such offences.
Kolkata Police started prosecuting cars parked illegally on roads and stopped double-line parking in many areas.
Rashbehari Avenue
Around 3pm on Sunday, a parking attendant asked for ₹20 when this newspaper parked the car for 15 minutes along Rashbehari Avenue.
When told that the rates were ₹10 an hour, he did not argue and took ₹10. The attendant, however, did not give any receipt until he was asked for one.
Parking on Rash Behari Avenue
A printed receipt had ₹20 written on it. The attendant did not fill the space kept for writing the parking duration of the vehicle.
The receipt had the names of Kolkata Municipal Corporation on top, and the cooperative allotted the rights to manage the parking bay — Geetanjali Fee Car Parking Ltd — at the bottom.
Park Street
Next stop was Park Street, where parking spaces are in high demand on Sunday afternoons when hundreds go for lunch in their favourite restaurants on the street.
The car parking space opposite the Park Hotel was full.
When this newspaper approached a parking attendant for space, he said he could arrange parking on a second line — parallel to where the cars were already — but the hourly charges would be ₹50, five times the stipulated rates.
Russel Street
The quest for a space to park the car took us to Russel Street. While leaving after 10 minutes, an attendant asked for ₹20. When told the KMC-approved hourly charge was ₹10, he did not argue and took ₹10.
Parking on Russel Street
He handed a receipt only after he was asked for one. Like on Rashbehari Avenue, here also ₹20 was printed on the receipt.
The space for the time of parking was left blank.
The name of Pioneer Co-op Car Parking Service and Construction Society Ltd was mentioned on the receipt.
In April 2023, the KMC introduced point-of-sale (POS) machines for payment of parking fees in select parts of the city. It was later expanded across the city.
But the system has only remained on paper and never been implemented. Resistance from the parking co-operatives and KMC’s lack of resolve to implement it buried the mechanism.
KMC officials had then said that the machines would record the time when a car is parked.
The car’s occupants were supposed to be given a receipt when the car was parked.
While leaving, the parking attendant was supposed to issue another receipt that mentioned the “in-time” (entry) and “out-time” (exit) along with the parking charges to be paid.
Many had expected that the introduction of the system would end the practice of overcharging.