The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Parking goes dearer

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Wednesday, Mar 19, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Parking goes dearer

S. Sandeep Kumar

Bakery charging car parking fee of Rs.100
Despite fee vehicles parked at owner’s risk

- Photos: Nagara Gopal, S. Sandeep Kumar

Bitter pill: Business establishments collect tidy sums towards parking fee.

Hyderabad: Next time when you visit Karachi Bakery at Moazzam Jahi Market, be prepared to shell out more on your bill. Since, it is not local taxes or any other charges that you need to pay extra but it is the car parking fee that could be heavy on your wallets.

Claiming the provision of providing ample car parking space, management of Karachi Bakery is charging Rs. 100 as car parking fee to its customers, who shop for more than one hour at the outlet.

For those, who complete shopping within one hour there is some respite, since they are charged at Rs. 10 and that too subject to a minimum purchase of Rs. 100 at the outlet.

And the real bouncer is despite paying such exorbitant parking fee vehicles are parked at owner’s risk. Karachi Bakery management would not be responsible for accessories attached or belongings left inside the vehicle.

On an average, 450 parking tickets are sold per day and Rs. 10 parking fee (for one hour) charged would be deducted from the customer’s bill. There is not much of parking space at Abids and that makes vehicle owners to park their vehicles at our premises for long hours to shop elsewhere. This is the reason behind charging Rs. 100 for people parking their vehicle at our premises for more than one hour. All this practice is just to provide sufficient car parking to our customers, defends Manoj of Karachi Bakery. Taking a cue from Karachi Bakery, several malls in and around Abids are also charging parking fee, in spite of it being mandatory for the mall owners to provide free parking space for their customers. While, management of Sanali Mall at Chirag Ali Lane charges Rs. 10 and Rs 5 (for only two hours) for four wheelers and two-wheelers respectively, others malls charge parking fee without giving receipts.

“There is no option left for us excepting to pay high parking fee. GHMC paid parking lots are always occupied and mall owners’ cash on the lack of sufficient parking space,” says V. Prabhakar, a vehicle owner.

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Andhra Pradesh