Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) revoked its paid parking contract with Mumbai-based company, Arya Toll Infra Limited, on Monday, for failing to clear license fees to the tune of Rs 3.69 crore.
Licence fee is the fee paid by a firm to a civic body in order to get permission to run parking lots and charge money from commuters.
As per the order, the contractor must handover possession of 25 parking lots and multilevel parkings immediately.
Meanwhile, the firm’s local representative Sunil Badlnai said that the firm should have been at least given two to three days to vacate the premises. The firm might challenge the order in a local court in days to come.
The cancellation order signed by parking branch head Tejdeep Singh Saini, the contract was cancelled because the firm did not clear its payment within the stipulated time. It also said the firm was given reasonable time to clear the payment but it chose to violate the agreement.
As per the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the firm, the firm is bound to pay every quarter’s payment in advance. The payment of the ongoing quarter (June to September) was due on June 19 but the firm failed to pay it even after its two-week grace period lapsed earlier this week.
The MC also rubbished the Rs 10 crore compensation recently sought by the parking contractor on account of illegal parking in the city and encroachments inside parking lots.
The MC will take over all paid parking lots and has already deputed 200 of its internal staff to run it from Tuesday. Until the parking rates are revised by the house, the MC will charge parking at the usual rates
The row over paid parking began in April after the contractor increased the rates to Rs 10 for two-wheelers and and Rs 20 for four-wheelers.
This prompted mayor Davesh Moudgil to highlight anomalies in the firm’s working and push for cancellation of their contract.
The agenda to cancel the contract was discussed thrice since April but councillors deferred cancelling the contract after being cautioned about the financial and legal ramifications of one sided cancellation.
