(Over)charged parking: Fake receipts, corrupt employees scam people out of millions

KMC employees take home over Rs15 million by charging people double the amount.

KARACHI: When Muhammad Sheikh was parking his motorcycle at the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) designated parking site outside the Civic Centre, he was not aware that the KMC employee was skimming him out of his hard-earned money by charging him double the amount in parking fees.

A visit to the designated charged parking site outside the KMC head office revealed that there are hundreds of motorcycles parked at such sites every day. The charges for parking a vehicle are Rs5 and Rs20 for motorcycles and cars respectively, according to the official rate fixed by the KMC.

“This is ridiculous!” remarked Sheikh, when he was informed that he had just paid double the amount for parking. “If this is happening right under the nose of the KMC higher-ups, what can be said about the rest of the city?” he asked.

Sheikh lamented that it was a shameful act on the part of the employees who printed fake receipts and were fooling citizens out of millions of rupees. “The whole system is corrupt!” he exclaimed.

Huge profits

There are 43 designated charged parking sites in the city, where at least 2,000 motorcycles and over 1,000 cars are parked each day. According to an estimate, KMC employees take home more than Rs15 million as illegal profits each month.

The KMC’s charged parking director, Raza Abbas Rizvi, when contacted, accepted that they had received several complaints regarding fake slips. He, however, assured that strict action had been taken against those involved in the sham.

When the director was informed that fake slips were being issued under his very nose, he responded angrily, “Bring me those fake slips and then see what I do with them.”

He reported that the corporation had cancelled the contracts of 10 sites, while another four were being monitored. “There are, however, a number of sites involved in the violation of KMC codes,” he admitted. According to Rizvi, almost all the 43 sites are being run by KMC’s own employees while the rest have been tendered to contractors.

The director also requested all citizens to inform the KMC charged parking department if they found any discrepancies in the charged parking receipts or if they were charged extra at any site. “We have already published our personal and official telephone numbers in all the newspapers and other important places,” he said.

Upon request, the director also sent a handout to The Express Tribune, which states that, “The charged parking department of KMC has notified, for the information of general public, that the parking fee recoverable at the KMC’s Charged Parking Sites is Rs20 for a car and Rs5 for a motorcycle. In case of demand of excess amount by the parking attendants or contractors, please inform the charged parking department on phone no.021-99230819 immediately. Complaints can also be lodged on the phone numbers of inspection officers after office hours.”

“At your own risk”

What is ironic about the whole scheme is that, though the KMC charges for parking at the designated sites, the receipts explicitly state that, “vehicles must be parked at your own risk”. Meanwhile, there are a number of complaints, regarding stolen vehicles from these sites, registered at various police stations across the city. The KMC does not take any responsibility for the theft of these vehicles, it says.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 9^th,2013.