Shell more to park vehicles on Pedestrian Plaza: New rates here

CHENNAI: In a desperate move to divert vehicles to the multi-level parking (MLP) facility, which is under-utilised, the Greater Chennai Corporation has converted the Pedestrian Plaza (Theyagaraya Road) into a premium road for parking by increasing parking charges. New rates to park car at Plaza will be Rs 60 and for bikes Rs 15 per hour.

According to a Council resolution passed on Tuesday, the on-street parking on Theyagaraya Road can cater to 98 cars and over 300 two-wheelers at full capacity. The MLP facility can accommodate 222 ECS (Equivalent Car Space) and 513 two-wheelers at full capacity. Both the options levy Rs 20 per hour for four-wheelers and Rs 5 per hour for two-wheelers. "Hence, there is traffic congestion and excessive demand for parking on-street, while the MLP facility remains under-utilised. In May 2022, the total collection from MLP for the month was only Rs. 1,16,175."

The resolution added that a discussion was held by the Parking Cell about the lack of incentive to park at the MLP and the traffic congestion at Theyagaraya Road in July 2021. "After consideration, it was suggested that Theyagaraya Road (Pedestrian Plaza) be designated as a premium parking zone and the traffic be diverted to park in the MLP," it said.

The premium rates to park on Theyagaraya Road have been fixed at Rs 60 per hour for four-wheelers and Rs 15 per hour for two-wheelers. Also, one side of the Pedestrian Plaza will be notified as 'No Parking'.

Meanwhile, the civic body also has passed a resolution to penalize the service providers, who implement the on-street parking management system to streamline the system and ensure revenue generation.

The service providers will be penalised Rs 3,000 per day for every absentee attender at the parking roads. Also, Rs 600 per hour will be imposed as a penalty if any attender is found absent temporarily. The civic body has estimated a revenue potential of Rs 12 lakh per day on public holidays and weekends, and Rs 8 lakh per day on weekdays. "Regardless of the actual revenue collected, the service provider has to pay the proportionate revenue share of GCC daily, which is Rs. 5.67 lakh on public holidays and weekends and Rs. 3.78 lakh per day on weekdays," the resolution said.

The civic body pointed out that the service provider had reported an average collection of Rs 1.70 lakh per day for approximately 11,650 ECS, whereas a basic estimate reveals that the same number of ECS on average could yield at least Rs 11.65 lakhs per day. The non-performance of the service provider in generating at least 5 hours per ECS as revenue results in a loss of over Rs 10 lakh per day.

Also, the civic body has restricted the scope of current service provider only to Anna Nagar, Teynampet and Kodambakkam zones, and decided to float a new tender to empanel new service providers for the remaining zones.