Bhubaneswar, Aug. 2: A visitor has taken to an online petition-sharing platform to vent his anger against the "rude behaviour of parking staff and demand for illegal charges" at the Biju Patnaik International Airport.

Initiated by Biswajit Jena on www.change.org under the title "Illegal Parking Charges at Biju Patnaik International Airport" on July 24, the campaign has already got the support of 1,034 net users till today. It needs altogether 1,500 signatures following which the petition will be submitted to airport director R. Mahalingam.

Jena in his petition alleged that the agency employees threaten and bully people asking them to pay for parking even for a duration of less than five minutes, which is illegal. According to Airport Authority of India guidelines, no vehicle should be charged if it stays inside the allotted parking lot of the airport for less than five minutes.

The airports authority had awarded the contract to a private agency for three years in 2013. The agency appointed about 10 workers to collect fees and guard the vehicles.

They collect Rs 10 for a two-wheeler, Rs 40 for four-wheelers, Rs 50 for SUVs, tempos, buses and trucks. The airport has one parking facility near Terminal 1 and 2. These parking lots accommodate nearly 500 two-wheelers and 200 four-wheelers.

Rekha Moharana, who had come from Cuttack to see off her sister at the airport, told The Telegraph that the parking staff behaved rudely with them. They even charged them without noting down her vehicle's registration number on the parking ticket. Rekha had come on her moped.

"I parked my two-wheeler in the parking area near the domestic terminal for which I was charged Rs 10. I told them that I would leave within five minutes, but they argued with me. Moreover, the parking ticket allotted to me didn't even had my vehicle number," said Moharana.

Many cab drivers had similar complaints. "Most of the time, the parking officials do not note down the registration number of the vehicles. This has been happening for the past year," said Bishnu Parida, a cab driver.

The parking staff members, however, denied the allegations. "Many people argue with us. It is a paid parking facility and we always inform them about the rules, but most of the visitors argue about the five-minute norm. We do mention the time of entry on the ticket and also the vehicle number. Very few people leave the airport within five minutes of arrival. If they stay beyond that time what's wrong in asking them to pay?" said one of the staff members, who did not want to be named.

Asked about the genuineness of the allegations, the airport director said: "We have a grievance cell to look into such issues. We take immediate action after receiving any complaint. We will look into the matter and ensure that no official misbehaves with the visitors," said Mahalingam.

In March 2015, the airport authority had set up a committee to look into the grievances of passengers following a complaint lodged by an army officer that he and his daughter had been manhandled by the parking staff. The authorities had then issued a show-cause notice to the parking lot operator and cancelled his contract.