Pvt firms 'book' NDMC parking in CP
May 26, 2008
New Delhi: Private contractors have been quick to cash in on the parking
space crunch in Connaught
Place (CP) by bending the rules. Though New
Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) does not allow private parking
in the Capital's elitist business district, some companies and the
private contractor of N Block in the Outer Circle have "struck a deal"
for a dedicated parking space for the employees of the firms.
The N Block parking lot of NDMC flaunts boards of two companies
— Ernst & Young and Hughes — declaring reserved
space for their cars. Sources said contractors provide this ‘service'
to the companies at a premium cost right under the nose of NDMC
authorities. Instead of the Rs 1,000 fixed monthly parking rate
per car, the contractor, sources said, charges Rs 2,000 per car
from these firms, pocketing a huge sum of unaccounted money.
Confirming the ‘parking settlement' with the contractor
of N Block, administration head of Ernst & Young, Rakesh Sabharwal,
said: "We entered into a written agreement with the
contractor in December last year. We have reserved parking space
for 60 cars of our employees in N Block by paying Rs 2,000 per car
every month. We make payments through cheques, so there is nothing
that we do on the sly. We will come out of the agreement, the day
we get an alternative."
Though NDMC officials plead ignorance about the matter, they admit
that such settlements between companies and parking lot contractors
are illegal. "Such private parkings are not allowed
by NDMC. We haven't received any complaint against the contractor
so far but we will inquire into the matter. Immediate action would
be taken against him if he is found making money by wrong means,"
said NDMC spokesperson Anand Tiwari. The contractor for N Block
could not be contacted for comment.
According to an employee of Ernst & Young, the company had
dedicated parking space for its cars at the parking lot on KG Marg
till it was removed to make space for the construction of a multilevel
parking lot. "The same contractor offered us space
at N Block later and we agreed. We have to walk a good distance
to the office every day but other contractors were demanding higher
rates. A contractor offered us parking space at Hailey Road for
Rs 5,000 per car. Many other companies also resort to this solution,"
said Bamdev Nautiyal of Ernst and Young, who directly deals with
the contractors.
Hughes, which has its office in the Hansalaya Building on Barakhamba
Road, struck a deal with the contractor to make sure its employees
could make it to office driving their own cars. "The
settlement with the contractor was not the best thing to do. But
we had to take the risk as there was no option. We can't park
at the faraway Palika Parking even though its rates are half,"
said Manjeet, an administration executive at Hughes.
Admitting that space is reserved for employees of these two companies,
a parking attendant said: "We have to make sure that
we provide parking space for the employees of these two companies.
We can't stop others from parking their cars if the company's
space is vacant, but we try reserve space for the company cars."
Source: The Times Of India
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