Pune Municipal Corporation finalizes operators for 7 public parking lots

PUNE: The civic administration has finalized operators for seven public parking spaces in the busy areas of the city, including Deccan and Peth localities, for the next three years. Some of these facilities were shut down due to overcharging complaints or end of contract, leaving motorists hassled.
These parking lots are located in the Pune Railway Station area, Ganesh Peth, Narayan Peth, Shukrawar Peth, FC Road and JM Road.
Officials with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) said the bids were finalized based on the capacity and response to the parking lots. The civic body aims at earning around Rs 2.5 crore from these facilities every year, considering their annual rent would range from Rs 1.8 lakh to Rs 1.8 crore annually.
"The tenders to these facilities received good response. All of them are above the base price. The highest bidder was awarded the contract," said a senior official of the PMC's traffic planning department.
The civic officials said PMC had given waiver to the parking lots' contractors, resulting in a loss of around Rs 1.25 crore from March-September 2020 period. The civic administration said the rent was waived as the facilities were kept closed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
As per municipal data, standard rate for parking vehicle at public parking is Rs 14 per hour for four-wheelers and Rs 3 per hour for two-wheelers.
The PMC officials said the administration had cancelled the contract of some facilities for reasons like non-payment of rent. As per the contract terms between the PMC and contractors, if the operator is found to have violated the norms or contract terms, half of the total monthly revenue is charged for first offence and the total monthly revenue is charged for second violation.