Pune Metro Suspends Contractor for Overcharging Parking Fees

The Pune Metro on Monday suspended a contractor after he was found charging higher parking fees than the decided rate on the very first day of starting a pay-and-park facility at the District Court Metro station. The citizens questioned the Metro authorities whether they will continue the pay and park facility by appointing another contractor and whether the facility will be shut till then.

Pay-and-Park Facility at Pune Metro

The Pune Metro had decided to start pay-and-park facilities at metro stations including Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), Sant Tukaram Nagar, Phugewadi, Bopodi, Shivajinagar and District Court (metro line 1); and Ideal Colony and Mangalwar Peth/ RTO. A contractor has already been awarded the pay-and-park contract. As per the contract, two-wheelers are charged `8 for an hour and `12 for two hours with an additional `5 per helmet stored in the designated space.

Commuters Express Concerns on Social Media

The entire episode created a fuss amongst the commuters, and they started expressing their frustration and concerns on their social media accounts as well. They claimed that the parking fee was more than the Metro ticket. Jyoti Nair, a commuter, said, “The metro parking should be free. Or it should be something like a shopping mall, where you show a metro ticket and the parking is free.”

Zeeba Shaikh, another commuter, said, “Where is the GST number on the ticket? All parking spaces need to have it mandatorily to get the government contract.” Tushar Jadhav, a student, said, “If a man goes to office in the morning and parks his car at the Metro parking space and comes back after 10 hours, how much will that cost? People will not take the metro and will use their own vehicles in such a case.”

Pune Metro's Response

Hemant Sonawane, Executive Director (Administration and Public Relations), Pune Metro, said, “The contractor started working from Monday, and we came to know that he was not charging as per the decided fare. Hence, we stopped him from operating and also suspended his contract. The decided rate for parking is `15 for two hours. However, the contractor was found charging `15 for one hour for two-wheelers and `35 per hour for four-wheelers at the just-started pay-and-park facilities at the Shivajinagar and District Court Metro station premises. Since the contract has been suspended, no charges will be collected from the commuters.”

• The Pune Metro suspended a contractor for overcharging parking fees at the District Court Metro station.
• The contractor was charging `15 for one hour for two-wheelers and `35 per hour for four-wheelers.
• The decided rate for parking is `15 for two hours.
• The contractor has been suspended, and no charges will be collected from the commuters.

Summary

The Pune Metro has suspended a contractor for overcharging parking fees at the District Court Metro station. The contractor was charging higher than the decided rate, which led to complaints from commuters. The Pune Metro has stopped the contractor from operating and suspended his contract. No charges will be collected from commuters until a new contractor is appointed.