Bhubaneswar: Next time you park your vehicle at any place in the city, beware of fake parking operators. They will come out of nowhere and ask for parking fees. They will go to the extent of claiming that the municipal corporation have engaged them to collect the fees.

The reality, however, is that these parking lots do not exist in the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation's official list. The parking lots have also not been outsourced to a private operator.

According to the civic body, there are 76 authorised parking lots in the city. Most of these are being auctioned with the civic body planning to introduce a new parking system from April 1.

With the corporation having no control over unauthorised parking lots mushrooming in the city, the commuters are bearing the brunt of illegal operators, who often turn out to be bullies when people resist and refuse to pay the fees.

"I went to a bookstore near Master Canteen. I parked my bike in front of the store when a man came and asked for parking fees. I am a regular visitor to the bookstore, but had never seen any parking operator. When I argued, the operator started shouting and bullying with me," said Unit-II resident Jitendra Mohanty.

If this was not enough, operators of parking lots are not providing receipts for the fees.

"It is a new parking lot inaugurated by the corporation. My owner got this parking lot after paying lakhs of rupees and I am here to recover it," said Sushant Mohanty, the operator at Master Canteen, who is collecting the fees on behalf of the auction holder.

A senior civic body official, however, claimed that in the new parking system they had added a few.

"We have added new parking lots in each of the three zones, but have not started collection of fees. We will look into the matter and ask auction holders to start the service after April 1," the official said.

The confusion arose, as the civic body was yet to enforce the parking regulation notification of 2015. According to the regulation, the operators will have to wear uniform, mark parking lots with signboards and issue electronically generated receipts.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said they had decided to streamline the parking system, but operators would not be allowed to misbehave with the commuters.

"I urge the citizens to file complaints whenever they face misbehavior of parking operators. Action will be taken accordingly," said Jena.