Illegal parking in major Indian cities has been an issue of concern for the government since long. In order to resolve the impending issue, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started taking more strict actions on the illegally parked vehicle owners since July 7, 2019.
According to the new BMC rules, the vehicles parked illegally within 500 metres of the 26 public parking lots and 20 BESTS depots are to be fined heavily. The fine parameters depend on the type of vehicles parked illegally which may further range from INR 5,000 to INR 23,000.
The heavy vehicle owners would have to pay a fine of INR 15,000, that can rise up to INR 23,000 while the two-wheelers owners responsible for illegal parking would be fined INR 5,000 that may vary up to INR 8,300. The BMC was able to collect INR 1.70 lakh of total fine from all the 26 parking wards. According to the reports, the illegal parking fines were imposed on 35 four-wheelers, 42 three-wheelers and certain two-wheelers. Out of the 26 parking lots in Mumbai, 10 are free of charge.
The penalty charges for the light motor vehicles may vary from INR 10,000 to INR 15,000, medium-sized vehicle parked illegally would have to pay a fine of INR 11,000 to INT 17,600 and the three-wheelers parked illegally will attract a fine of INR 8,000 to INR 12,200. The penalty charges will keep on adding every second day until the owner has paid the exact amount.
Commenting on the imposing new illegal car parking fines, Vijayawada Singhal, the commissioner BMC stated: “ A circular to levy penalties on vehicles parked in no-parking zones were issued in 2017 under the Municipal Corporation Act. It is under the discretion of the commissioner to levy penalties on those flouting rules and parking their vehicles in no-parking zones.”
Suggesting measures to clear up the city roads, he further added: “We have public parking lots at 26 such locations and we saw that not even 15 per cent of the space is being utilised. People would park their vehicles on roads causing congestion. The move will help decongest roads and further utilise the public infrastructure which is in place,”
In order to inform the vehicle owners of the no parking zones, several informative and cautionary boards have been put up by the BMC. Within just two days after the commencing of the heavy illegal parking fines, the city roads have started to clear down making way for much smoother traffic management.
