CHANDIGARH: Commuters will have to pay hourly charges from January, as both paid parking contractors of the city have assured the municipal corporation they will install all smart features in the lots by next month. First 10 minutes will be free for pick and drop service.
The licence fee issue has also been resolved as both contractors have started paying it in full to the civic body.
The move came following the recent meeting of the paid parking contractors with the MC officers. Both the contractors told the officers about the status of work and raw material required to install the smart features. The contractor who is managing zone-II lots has assured to complete work by the first week of January and his zone-I counterpart will do it by January 15.
Zone-II contractor Anil Kumar Sharma said, “We have completed more than 50% work and will start hourly parking by the first week of January. We will also give monthly rechargeable parking cards to the commuters.”
Ram Sunder, zone-I contractor, said, “We have got the material and we are in the process of assembling it. As some raw material had to come from China, it took time. We will fix all smart features by January 15.”
The city has 89 paid parking lots divided into two zones. Zone-I has lots of southern sectors and Manimajra, and zone-II covers northern sectors.
As per the agreement, the first 10 minutes will be free for pick and drop services. From 10 minutes to four hours, charges will be Rs 10 for four-wheelers and Rs 5 for two-wheelers. From four hours to 12 hours, charges will be Rs 20 and Rs 10 for four-wheelers and two-wheelers, respectively, after which these will double. Every year, 20% parking charges will be increased.