Ruckus in SDMC house over parking fee

NEWDELHI: A group of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors disrupted proceedings of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation House on Tuesday over the issue of parking fees at malls.

HT had reported on Tuesday that in a U-turn, the SDMC had allowed malls in south Delhi to charge parking fees from visitors. The civic body had earlier told the malls and hospitals in its area to not charge any parking fees. The order, however, remains in force for the hospitals.

The councillors trooped into the well of the House, shouted slogans, tore papers and demanded clarification from mayor on this issue.

AAP councillor Ramesh Matiala said, “We were only asking the mayor and commissioner Puneet Goel to clear their stand. Last month, the civic agency issued circular to seal the malls or cancel their licences if they charge parking fees from cus- tomers. But, during the standing committee meeting on Monday, chairperson Shikha Rai said officials are not able to implement the decision.”

“Silence of the mayor and commissioner on the issue clearly indicates that they are hand-in-glove with the mall authorities,” Matiala said.

SDMC mayor Narendra Chawla had issued suspension warning notices to Matiala and 15 other AAP councillors and nominated members, including MLA Jarnail Singh.

“They referred to an interim order of the Delhi High Court in 2016, in which three malls were given permission to charge parking fees from visitors at Rs 20 per hour,” said Shikha Rai.

However, after the house meeting on Tuesday, both standing committee chairperson and the mayor said no decision has been taken on the issue yet.

“Charging of parking fees at malls, hospitals and hotels is illegal until the civic body takes a final decision on it,” Chawla said.