Move to wind up parking company

LAHORE:

A summary for winding up the Lahore Parking Company and outsourcing the operation of stands to reduce the expenses of the government has been sent to the Punjab chief minister.

The company was formed in 2011 to operate the parking stands on modern lines to ensure efficiency after the function as taken over from the Metropolitan Corporation Lahore.

According to official record, there were 198 small and large parking stands in the city at the time, from which the corporation earned an annual income of Rs67 million. Parking charges of Rs5 on motorcycles and Rs10 on cars were received at the facilities.

After the formation of the parking company, the fee for a motorcycle was increased to Rs10 and for a car to Rs30.

The number of designated parking stands in the provincial capital was increased to 214.

However, the number of vehicles in the city has been increasing rapidly as a result of its bulging population during the past decade.

The parking company earns an annual income of about Rs180 million. However, officials disclosed that more than 80 per cent of the amount is spent by the company on its operation. An annual profit of about Rs34.5 million is being made.

However, during the operation of the parking stands by the metropolitan corporation, the annual aftre deduction of expenses was Rs67 million, an official told The Express Tribune.

Instead of an increase in the annual income after the formation of the separate company, a reduction of Rs25 million to Rs30 million has been recorded.

All the parking stands in the city are run by the company itself with about 500 employees.

The official said the employees hired earlier by the metropolitan corporation to run the stands were also receiving salaries under a separate head, causing a financial burden of millions of rupees annually.

He said the Lahore Parking Company was being run in a traditional manner, due to which its contribution to the public exchequer was gradually decreasing.

In view of the financial situation, the summary has been sent to Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz with a proposal to run the vehicle parking service in the city in a better way in the future after abolishing the Lahore Parking Company.

The summary suggests that the responsibility of managing the parking facilities should be handed over again to the metropolitan corporation that would take the same work from the employees deputed for the purpose while reducing the additional expenses.

If the Lahore Parking Company is to be run further then all the parking stands should be outsourced, it was suggested.

This will reduce the additional expenditure and help significantly increase the income.

The future of the parking company will be decided after the approval of the chief minister.

When contacted, Lahore Parking Company Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Sarfraz said any instruction received from the Punjab government would be implemented.

Efforts were being made to provide parking facilities to the people as well as improve the traffic system and increase the revenue, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2022.