Chandigarh MC revokes paid parking contract with Mumbai firm

The Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) on Monday revoked the paid parking contract with Mumbai-based Arya Toll Plaza Limited after the firm failed to clear the pending licence fee despite repeated notices.

With two cheques worth Rs 1.5 crore being dishonoured, the MC proceeded with cancellation of the contract, its second attempt in the past eight months.

In July last year, too, the firm’s contract was cancelled, but it got relief from the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC).

MC additional commissioner Tilak Raj, who is heading the parking branch, said the firm does not deserve leniency from the HC this time as the MC gave it sufficient time to clear the dues, but it deliberately defaulted on the payments.

“The quarterly licence fee for December-February to the tune of Rs 3.7 crore got due on December 19. But the firm kept on dilly-dallying. A few days ago, it gave an affidavit stating that it would clear the payment by mid-February and even submitted two cheques amounting to Rs 1.5 crore. But one was dishonoured on Friday and the other on Monday,” he said.

This shows the firm is not bothered about meeting the contract terms, said Tilak Raj, adding that the MC has evidence to show how the firm was running the parking lots unprofessionally.

Criminal proceedings too

MC commissioner KK Yadav said that he has directed the law officer to file a caveat in the HC so that the civic body is heard properly in case the firm moves court against the latest decision.

Meanwhile, Tilak Raj said the MC will also file criminal proceedings against the parking contractor in a local court under the Negotiable Instruments Act in the cheque bounce case. The MC also plans to file a police complaint against the firm on Tuesday.

300 workers to get jobless

Tilak Raj said the MC will take over the control of all 61 sites in 25 paid parking lots and the multilevel parking in Sector 17 on Tuesday morning.

The move will render 300 workers employed by the contractor jobless.

The MC official said the staff of the engineering and enforcement wings will be deputed on temporary basis before the MC floats a fresh tender and hires another agency to run the paid parking lots “professionally”.

He said there may be a few management issues to begin with, but the MC will ensure there is not much inconvenience to the parking users.

First Published: Feb 18, 2019 22:05 IST