Ranchi, April 5: Officials of Ranchi Municipal Corporation may be groping in the dark over the astonishing auction figures at the parking lot, but roadside vendors seem to know the secret behind the startling facts.

“I pay a sum of Rs 20 daily to contractor’s men for my kiosk near Albert Ekka Chowk. The amount increases for thelas that sell costly items,” said a roadside vendor.

The corporation has received several complaints from the vendors asking if the contractor’s men can legally charge them for their temporary business ventures. Though they have been told that the contractors may not, action has not been taken as yet against those who do.

“The contractors are not entitled to take money from the shopkeepers in and around parking lots. They are supposed to charge for vehicles parked in the stands,” said RMC official Awadh Tiwary, in-charge of parking lots.

When asked, if the civic body can take action against the erring officials, an official admitted that they can blacklist a contractor. “But, kiosk owners should complain to the police for further action,” he added.

There are allegations, too, from auto-rickshaw owners and drivers that contractors force them to pay Rs 7 as a token amount for every trip.

However, norms suggest that the owners and drivers are supposed to pay the required amount, once daily.

At a recent parking lot auction, contractors offered maximum price of Rs 4.57 lakh against initial auction money of Rs 30,000 for an auto-rickshaw stand in Argora. Even more astonishing figures were witnessed during the auction of a parking lot near Kishori Yadav Chowk in Ratu Road. One Anil Yadav offered Rs 9.15 lakh for the parking space. The auto-rickshaw stand near Jaipal Singh Stadium got auctioned for Rs 17.31 lakh, the bid won by one B. Oraon.

Interestingly, there has been an abnormal increase in the offers against the initial bidding amount since few years back, conceded RMC officials.

“But why should we face problems, if RMC is releasing more funds? Earlier, the parking lots were auctioned in thousands, now in lakhs. The city is also witnessing increased traffic, one of the reasons behind parking lots inviting lucrative business. It is the contractors headache to give us the auction money, otherwise, they will be blacklisted and their security deposits would be forfeited,” said Tiwary.