Hike in Sec 18 market parking rates: Shoppers head to malls, business dips by 50% for shops

Sector 18 Market, one of Noida’s oldest shopping hubs, has also been a hub of parking problems for long. And after missing multiple deadlines for years, the multilevel car parking in Sector 18, which was supposed to be the answer to all parking woes in the vicinity, finally opened on February 1. The parking lot, which has space for 2,800 cars and 250 two-wheelers, is meant to relieve the pressure on the parking lots in the Sector 18 market and the nearby mall mile. However, the opening of the parking has led to a manifold increase in the rates of surface parking in Sector 18. Till January, the authorised surface parking lots charged `20 (four-wheelers) for up to 14 hours (9am-11pm). Now, the parking rates have increased to `20 per hour, and even inside the multi-level parking complex, cars are charged `30 for the first two hours and `10 every hour afterwards. This has added to the woes of visitors who are now preferring to park in the comparatively cheaper malls over the parking lots in the market. Business owners rue that this has resulted in a dip in profits by over 50%.



Parking rates in malls much cheaper. Why will anyone come here, ask Sec 18 shopkeepers
SK Jain, president, Sector 18 Market Association, says, “The surface parking rates have boomed drastically. The rates of the malls are much cheaper than what the contractor has implemented here. So why will people want to come to the market? We are losing out on customers, thanks to the hiked parking rates.”


‘There’s still construction going on in the multilevel parking, making it risky to park there’
Amit Gupta, whose wife works in a complex at Sector 18 market, says, “The rates of multilevel parking should be half of what they are charging for parking on the road. There is not much of a difference between charging `30 per hour and `20 per hour. So why will anyone go to multilevel parking? Also, there’s still construction going on in the building. What if my car gets a dent due to rubble strewn all over?”


‘Heading to the better-maintained and cheaper parking areas of malls more convenient’
The shoppers think that instead of visiting the Sector 18 Market, stepping in the nearby malls makes more sense as their parking areas are better maintained and much economical. “To me, going to the mall seems more convenient than going to the market. The malls charge `40 on weekdays and `50 on weekends for a full-day parking. Why will someone want to spend `100 for parking for only five hours, and that too on the road? People will obviously prefer going to the air-conditioned malls where the parking lots are better-maintained,” adds Amit.


‘I now go to Brahmaputra market for street food and not sector 18’
Richa Puri, a college student and a resident of Sector 12, says, “I used to hang out in the Sector 18 market with my friends every evening as the street food is amazing there. But ever since the parking rates have been revised, I avoid going there. It is too expensive. I instead go to Brahmaputra market these days.”



‘Our business has gone down by 50% after hike of parking rates’
Anita Singh, a shopkeeper from Sector 18 Market, says, “Customers have stopped coming to the market. Our business has gone down by 50%. What was the logic behind raising the parking rates? The parking is still not regulated here. Autowallahs still park wherever they wish to, cars are haphazardly parked – the condition remains messy as usual. Pehle log market aa jaate thay, thinking ki `20 hi dena hoga. Also, the authority doesn’t give any discount for parking to the shopkeepers either. We have to pay the same rates as the visitors.”

Inputs from Abhimanyu.Mathur@timesgroup.com