CHENNAI CORPORATION: Final plan to streamline private parking lots

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on June 9, 2010:

CHENNAI: With the civic body completing a detailed survey on private parking lots in the city for regularising them, a concrete plan to streamline and fix charges per vehicles at the lots is expected in a month’s time.
According to Ripon Building sources, the civic body has completed a survey and identified about 180 places across the city used as private parking lots.
Though Mayor M Subramanian had announced regularising of them some nine months ago, the final plan on streamlining the private parking would take its concrete shape in the next few days and the plan (in the form of resolution) would be moved for approval by the officials at the Council meeting next month.The issue of regularising the private lots cropped up as a big issue during last September when an operator of such a facility near Nungambakkam railway station demanded exorbitant charges for parking two-wheelers.
Besides, the civic body also took note of the problems faced by owners on insurance claims if a vehicle goes missing from parking lots. It may be noted that most of the parking service operators in the city issue printed challans, which categorically deny any responsibility of the operator if (parked) vehicles go missing or suffers damage at the parking lot.
Issues like this and collection of exorbitant charges at private parking lots are to be regularised under the proposed plan, sources said.
Besides, it has been also proposed that the operators of such parking lots, have to get license from the civic body to do the business and while they get their license, these stringent streamlining measures would be made as pre-conditions in it.