Parking company’s role to be evaluated

LAHORE:

The Punjab local government secretary has decided to re-evaluate the role of the Lahore Parking Company in view of complaints of the loss of millions of rupees caused by unauthorised parking stands in the city.

The company had been established by transferring powers from the metropolitan corporation to it to run a modern parking system.

According to sources, the income of the Lahore Parking Company has decreased despite the increase in the number of vehicles in the city and inflation during the past 12 years.

Investigations into fake receipts and embezzlement have also proved futile.

The number of official parking stands was reduced, but many stands have been illegally established.

The parking stands had been taken over from the metropolitan corporation in 2011 and handed over to the Lahore Parking Company so that they could be run on modern lines. As per the plan, the staff was to be retained and the parking fee had to be charged digitally in proportion to the time period for which the vehicles were parked. The vehicles were to be parked in an organised manner to avoid traffic problems.

There were 244 parking stands in the city at the time, but the annual income of Rs670,000 from the facility was considered low, which was supposed to increase by 10 to 20 per cent every year.

The parking fee for a motorcycle was Rs5 and for car Rs10.

After the establishment of the parking company, the motorcycle parking fee was fixed at Rs20 and car Rs30.

However, there is probably not a single parking stand in Lahore where the fees are being charged as per the official rates.

In upscale areas like the Main Boulevard, Garden Town, Liberty Market, Jail Road, Circular Road, big plazas, shopping malls, cinemas and theaters, parking fees of Rs100 to Rs200 are being charged for cars with impunity.

The number of officially operated parking stands in the city had reduced to 186, which is now over 200.

About two years ago, the metropolitan corporation and traffic police jointly conducted a survey, in which around 1,000 illegal parking stands were identified.

According to the parking company, its average income of Rs830,000 per day has dropped to Rs700,000 and is declining.

Under the metropolitan corporation, the municipal officers managed all the parking stands across the city. The facilities were run by less than a dozen inspectors and employees and the monthly income was increasing, the sources said.

But after the creation of the Lahore Parking Company, more than 500 employees could not increase the income.

The sources said the employees serving at the stands were also not receiving full salary. Deduction of salary because of short attendance has become common.

Complaints of citizens about excessive parking charges are also on the rise, while traffic problems have increased because of wrong parking.

A former civic service official, Sarfraz Hussain, estimated that the income could have increased to more than Rs350 million per year is the parking system had bene privatised.

Lahore Parking Company CEO Rafia Haider said appointments would be made soon on key posts of the organisation by the Punjab government.

“Our effort is to run the parking company in a better way. Action has been taken against corrupt employees. It is necessary for the parking company to appoint qualified officers to run the company on modern lines and help solve the problems, including those related to traffic,” she added.

Provincial Secretary Shakeel Ahmad Mian said while speaking to The Express Tribune that the Lahore Parking Company needed to be restructured in order to be run successfully.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2024.