Ranchi, March 8: District administration’s announcement for free parking at the various spots on the Main Road is over.

Parking lot contractors have already started collecting Rs 7 from four-wheelers and Rs 3 from two-wheelers.

The parking on payment will continue since the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) has already floated tenders for auction of parking lots for the coming financial year.

On December 23, the RMC authorities had announced that no fees will be charged for parking vehicles from certain parts of Main Road (Wool House to Hanuman temple, Suvarno Medical Hall to Sartaj Hotel, near Ratan Talkies, near Kotwali police station and taxi stand near daily market) from January 1, 2007.

RMC administrator Vinay Kumar Chaubey said the free parking facility was a temporary arrangement and since last month, the contractors have been allowed to charge fees. He said the corporation has already communicated its decision to the district administration.

The amount of parking fees would not change from the next financial year since they have not upwardly revised the minimum reserve price of the parking lots, he said.

“Parking lot is a major source of revenue generation for the corporation and they cannot be made free. Besides, they were already auctioned and the contract cannot be cancelled midway,” he said.

The administrator said the arrangement of free parking was allowed since it was an experiment to see if awareness can be generated among commuters about proper parking, which seems to have failed.

However, Ranchi deputy commissioner Kamal Kishore Soan is still optimistic of providing free parking as announced earlier.

“We will assess the impact and if we find the free facility had generated awareness, we may request the corporation to continue with the facilities,” said Soan.