The Hindu : New Delhi News : Delhi Metro to hike parking fees

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Sunday, Aug 23, 2009
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New Delhi

Delhi Metro to hike parking fees

Smriti Kak Ramachandran

Rates decided by contractors: DMRC

Parking lot contracts to be renewed
At some places, hike already implemented

NEW DELHI: When the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation recently announced that it would streamline the monthly parking system at its stations to benefit regular commuters, what it forgot to mention was an impending increase in the parking fees.

Turns out commuters who are regulars at the metro parking lots will have to loosen their purse strings in the coming days. At some parking bays, an increase in fees has already been implemented. For instance at Rohini commuters now have to pay Rs.500 instead of Rs.300 for a monthly parking facility and at Patel Chowk too commuters have been warned of a similar hike in fees.

“Without any intimation the fee was increased by Rs.200. There should have been some kind of a notice,” complained Sanjay Mehra, a regular commuter and a smart card user who parks his car at the Rohini station to commute to Connaught Place by metro.

The DMRC for its part claims that the parking lots are run by contractors hired after inviting bids. “Each parking lot is run by a contractor selected after a bidding process. They are hired for a two-year term and they decide the parking fees after assessing the market. They pay the DMRC a certain fee per month,” said an official. He said the contracts for the parking lots currently in use would soon be renewed and the fees at most of these stations are likely to go up. “Each contractor will decide on the monthly fee and not the DMRC. At some stations the contracts have been renewed,” the official said.

“The parking fee at the DMRC stations is decided after market research and it is much less when compared with the fees levied by the MCD or NDMC,” he added.

Faced with a parking crunch at its stations, the DMRC recently announced that the bays would now be open to only regular commuters with smart cards.

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