At PMC, you have to fight for a parking fee receipt

Operators at parking lot attached to main building of civic body avoid issuing receipt, say it's not important

Theu00a0only tolerable parking spaces in the city are probably parking lots belonging to government offices because of their palatial size and cheap rates. But it has been noticed that the parking lot of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), although huge, does not issue parking receipts to motorists after they park their vehicles.




Demand it: The receipt issued by the operator at the parking lot
adjoining PMC after much argument. Pic/Krunal Gosavi

The contractor has assigned men to regulate traffic and collect parking charges. But these men do not give receipts, until asked for one, to motorists after they pay the parking charges. When this reporter parked a bike, a man approached asking for Rs 3 as parking charges, but did not voluntarily give the receipt. After stepping out of the PMC office an hour later, he was asked for the receipt again, but the man Bharat Dhotre dithered to give.

When asked why receipts were not produced, he could not give any clear answer but later gave a copy of the receipt. "We give receipts to people only when they ask for it. Earlier, we used to promptly give receipts, but now it is not that important. People who park their vehicles here are also unruly and sometimes ride off without paying. Some have also manhandled us in the past" he said.

The PMC parking lot sees around 1,500 bikes on any working day and Rs 3 is the minimum charge. Sarang Betkikar (26), who had come for work related to his home property tax, said that even he had observed that receipts were not being issued. "I noticed this practice during my last two visits to PMC but didn't give it a serious thought. If you are being charged for using a particular commodity or service, an appropriate bill has to be produced even before the person asks for it," he said.

When contacted, Srinivas Bonala, additional city engineer, PMC, said he was aware of the practice but promised to look into it immediately. "I will personally discuss the issue with the contractor and check if this practice is prevalent. If any wrongdoing is found, I will surely take action," he promised.