Kolkata Motorists Face Extortionate Parking Fees in Prime Areas
Motorists in Kolkata are being forced to pay exorbitant parking fees, with rates soaring to Rs 50 per hour on JL Nehru Road (Chowringhee), a stark contrast to the official Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) rate of just Rs 10 per hour. In the absence of continuous monitoring, car parking agencies have begun extorting drivers in some of the city's most prominent locations.
Manual Fee Collection Defies KMC App Rule
Compounding the issue, parking fees are being collected manually, directly violating KMC regulations that mandate the use of a dedicated app for transparent and convenient payments. A recent survey revealed that parking attendants are demanding Rs 50 for an hour from motorists opposite the Grand Hotel. Those who insist on seeing the official KMC rate chart are often denied a parking space altogether, with rates increasing further after evening hours.
Tuhin Sen, a motorist from Ballygunge, shared his experience: "The attendants told me parking would cost Rs 60 an hour, but I ended up paying Rs 100 for a couple of hours to park on JL Nehru Road opposite Firpo's Market." Several other drivers reported being compelled to park in Chowringhee and pay five times the official KMC rates, as alternative parking lots in the area have virtually disappeared.
Hawker Encroachment Exacerbates Parking Crisis
While police have not designated these areas as no-parking zones, hawkers have taken over significant spaces on Bertram Street, Humayun Place, and Lindsay Street. According to a KMC official, the sanctioned parking lots in and around New Market include Bertram Street (capacity for 40 cars), Humayun Place (15 cars), and Lindsay Street (30 cars). However, fewer than 20 cars can now park on these three streets combined due to encroachments.
This shortage has shifted the entire burden onto JL Nehru Road, which has space for 80 cars. The soaring demand has led to the emergence of fake agencies operating unauthorized parking systems on the opposite flank. Nandini Banerjee, a lawyer from Maniktala, recounted: "I was asked to pay Rs 50 for an hour to park in an unauthorized lot near Monohardas Tarag. When I protested and asked for the rate chart, the attendant, who was not in uniform, refused and told me to find another spot."
Historical Parking Decline and Civic Inaction
The parking crisis has severely impacted New Market, a heritage shopping destination. Ashok Gupta, president of the SS Hogg Market Traders' Association, stated: "Bertram Street, once the primary parking lot for shoppers, has been usurped by hawkers. Many longtime shoppers have stopped visiting due to the lack of parking. While other private markets and malls are required to provide ample parking, authorities have allowed illegal occupations around New Market." Two decades ago, around 200 cars could park in the area; now, only a handful of spaces remain.
Despite repeated appeals from trade bodies to KMC and police to clear the streets and restore parking lots, no significant action has been taken. Motorists are also questioning the absence of the transparency-focused app introduced in 2023, which was supposed to facilitate app-based payments at over 500 points of sale across the city.
Systemic Failures and Fake Receipts
A KMC car parking department official acknowledged that the system has suffered setbacks due to unscrupulous agencies demanding fee hikes. While KMC has yet to decide on revising parking fees, officials are inundated with complaints from citizens accusing attendants of overcharging and misbehaving. The situation is deteriorating, with some agencies issuing fake receipts to cheat motorists in prime commercial areas.
Several parking agencies have allegedly been overcharging drivers, misleading them into believing the base fee has increased from Rs 10 to Rs 20 per hour. This rampant exploitation highlights a critical breakdown in regulatory oversight, leaving Kolkata's motorists at the mercy of unauthorized operators in one of the city's busiest districts.
