Loopholes in parking order can be exploited

GHMC officials say too early to take a call on the capping of parking fees

Though the state government has decided to provide free parking in the city, it is unclear whether GO No. 63 will be applicable to single-screen theatres or not.

The GO also does not prescribe restrictions on the parking fees collected by shopping malls and multiplexes, for over an hour of parking.

Sources say that the owners and operators of multiplexes and commercial establishments will exploit loopholes in the GO that is supposed to come into effect on April 1, and hike parking fees.

According to GO No. 63 dated March 20, 2018, no parking fees are to be collected from customers for the first 30 minutes of parking.

Parking fees are also to be waived for 30 minutes to one hour if the customer is able to produce proof of having purchased something at the shopping mall or multiplex.

And for over an hour of parking, a customer is to be exempted from the payment of parking fees if he is able to produce a bill or movie ticket amounting to more than the parking fee.

However, the GO does not mention whether these rules apply to single-screen theatres or not. There are over 200 singlescreen theatres in the city, where parking fees are in the range of `20 to `35 per show.

The GO also does not place a cap on the parking fee amount, which gives shopping malls and multiplexes the opportunity to hike it.

Highly-placed sources reveal that single-screen theatre plan to continue collecting parking fees, even if customers are able to produce tickets as proof of purchase.

“If a person purchases a water bottle worth `20, or a soft drink worth `50 and parks his vehicles for one hour, for free, malls and multiplexes will be overcrowded. In order to avoid this, owners of commercial establishments and multiplexes plan to hike their parking fees to more than `100, which may be a major burden to citizens,” a source says.

A senior GHMC officer has revealed to this newspaper that the GO is applicable to single-screen theatres as well.

He says that the issue will be soon be brought to the notice of the government, and a revised GO, with clear instructions, will be issued. He adds that it is too early to take a call on the capping of parking fees. A decision is likely to be made only after the implementation of the GO from April 1 onwards.