My space: The parallel business of parking in the city

Lots contracted out by MCP, Cantonment and PDA continue to overcharge despite set rates

PESHAWAR:

Like most of the major cities in the country, Peshawar’s streets and commercial areas are also lined with gold as the ‘business of charged parking’ grows. Denizens are not left with any other option except to pay the desired parking fee demanded by private and government leased parking lots and roads.

Three main bodies, including Municipal Corporation Peshawar (MCP), Cantonment Board Peshawar and Peshawar Development Authority (PDA), regulate charged parking in their respective jurisdictions in the city. The three bodies have contracted out parking sites to private parties but without proper monitoring contractors are charging vehicle owners bespoke rates which vary from place to place, depending on the density of traffic and the demand for parking spots.



The contractor-run Cantonment board car park on Hospital Road adjacent to Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) will charge Rs50 from car owners for the day and Rs20 from motorbike owners. However, fees determined by the board are Rs20 for a car, Rs25 for other four-wheelers and only Rs15 for bikes.

In addition to designated sites under these official entities, individuals are running private parking lots in empty plots in commercial areas. There, parking a car can cost as much as Rs80 and a bike Rs30.

“Parking at Saddar, Dabgari Garden and Hayatabad costs extra,” said Hamzallah. He was there to visit a family member at LRH and had paid Rs20 for his motorbike to the lot contractor’s staff there.

Zeeshan, one of the staffers issuing parking tickets at the LRH car park, tried to conceal the inflated cost. “We charge Rs10 from bikers. You can watch us when we charge them,” he said. But vehicle drivers in the parking maintained they had all been overcharged.

Under their nose

Those running car parking sites within MCP’s areas are also accused of charging extra as the municipal authorities do not maintain a system of checks and balances.

“We charge Rs20 for bikes and Rs50 for a car,” said a young man at the underground parking lot located at Chowk Yadgar and contracted out by MCP. “I have been working in the parking lot for over seven years and the rates are the same,” he said, but refused to disclose his name out of fear of losing his job. “Our seth (employer) bought the contract at Rs3.5 million from the corporation and he has to make a profit,” he said, explaining the inflated rate.

“We are answerable to the seth every evening for each and every slip we rip off the ticket booklet,” he added. “If the money falls short of the number of slips issued, then we have to pay the seth from our own pockets; most of the times we lie to him and tell him the police parked their vehicles as they (the police) are exempted by the seth from the parking fee.”

Private parking lots in commercial areas charge as much as Rs80 for a car and Rs30 for a bike. PHOTOS: SOHAIL KHATTAK/EXPRESS

Officials at the MCP and Cantonment Board Peshawar responsible for the oversight and regulation of the city’s parking denied the cost discrepancies. “We have not received any complaints regarding overcharging,” said Faqir Mohammad, a tax inspector at MCP.

The corporation has six parking sites in Chowk Yadgar, Faqirabad, Gulbahar, Dalazaq Road, Bakhshu Pul and Qamardin Garhi where contractors are charging the fee set by the government—Rs10 for a motorbike and Rs20 for four-wheelers, he said. “We pay secret visits to these lots to check for irregularities.”

The corporation is supposed to cancel the contract if the management of the parking lot is found guilty of overcharging. “But, the MCP has not cancelled any contract, which shows everyone is doing their job with honesty,” said Mohammad.

Anayatullah Niazi, an upper division clerk (UDC), at Cantonment Board Peshawar said the board fines contractors Rs5,000 if found guilty of overcharging.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2015.