The traffic department on Sunday came down heavily on two city-based malls and a few other commercial buildings for charging parking fees from vehicle owners. The move comes after the Gujarat High Court slammed Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and police department over illegal parking on service roads.
After sealing the Rajpath club over illegal parking on July 16 night, the traffic department is now going to take action against every mall and commercial building which are taking parking charges.
Notices were sent to 'Ahmedabad One Mall' and Himalaya Mall located in the Vastrapur and Drive-in road area on Saturday.
The mall authorities were given a day to explain why they were charging parking fees from vehicle owners, a source said. The malls hung notices at gates on Sunday saying no money will be charged for parking on their campuses.
"We had issued notices to malls. They were not authorised to take it. Had they not made the parking facility free, we would have even lodged a case against them regarding the issue," Sudhir Desai, DCP of traffic department, said. The police department is going to send notices to the other malls and commercial buildings in the city, which are taking charge from the public.
As per senior police officials, the cops have made a list of the buildings where parking is a major issue. A builder or an owner of commercial complexes doesn't not have any absolute right to lease out the parking area. Such leasing or alienation is prohibited under the Apartment Act.
DATA FOR TRAFFIC DRIVE CONDUCTED BETWEEN JULY 16 & 21
- 12,247 is the number of no parking cases
- Rs 12,24,700 collected as no parking fine
- Rs 9,36,800 collected as no parking towing charges
