Parking management in Chennai to be stricter; GCC officials hold meeting

CHENNAI: With the on-street parking management system remains a non-starter in Chennai without generating expected revenue, the Greater Chennai Corporation has decided to streamline the system by deputing revenue officials to monitor the implementation, after three years.

According to a Chennai Corporation official, when the project was implemented under the Smart City project, it was expected to generate Rs 7 lakh revenue per month by collecting parking charges from vehicle owners. The project was implemented in 2019. "However, the revenue generation is too low as the parking management could not be implemented in many roads as planned, " the official said.

During a recent meeting, Chennai Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi has instructed the revenue wing to depute tax assessors and tax collecters to monitor the system in their respective areas. In 2019, the civic body appointed a private firm to implement the project and identified around 12,000 ECS (Equivalent Car Space) on major stretches, including Pedestrian Plaza and Marina Service Road. Earlier, the project was managed by the special projects wing of the civic body. Now, it has been transferred to the revenue wing.

"The field officials will inspect the roads and review the collection of charges from the vehicle owners. To park vehicles in the selected roads, owners should pay Rs. 20 per hour for cars and Rs. 5 per hour for two-wheelers," it said

Action against violators:

Meanwhile, a Chennai Corporation press release has warned the vehicle owners, who violate parking rules on the selected roads. "Some vehicle owners fail to pay the parking charges. To prevent such practices, a meeting was held with the officials from the city police. During the meeting, it was decided to take action against the violators under Motor Vehicle Act, " the release said.

On the other hand, the civic body has released the list of roads where the parking management system is in effect in its official website. Vehicle owners also can raise complaint of higher charges or other misconduct to the civic body by dialing 1913.