A report in this newspaper yesterday highlighted how Colaba is rife with parking touts, which are preying on unsuspecting tourists
A report in this newspaper yesterday highlighted how Colaba is rife with parking touts, which are preying on unsuspecting tourists. Sniffing out their desperation, parking touts descend on them, directing them to a place to park. Then they charge them any rate, sometimes over Rs 200 per hour. The tourist, who may not know this is illegal, pays up because he is simply so relieved to find a parking spot.
It is not just the tourist, even locals are taken advantage of. With scarce parking, they have little option but to acquiesce when a fraudster makes his way to them, and though bargaining ensues, they do pay up eventually. Yesterday's report highlighted how one such tout was nabbed red-handed by the Colaba police.
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Last month, this paper had highlighted how a huge parking scam was going on near Crawford Market, near the police headquarters. The scam involved a contractor charging motorists upto Rs 150 instead of the BMC rate of Rs 60 per hour for parking.
There are many locals who believe that all this happens with police connivance. How else would touts find parking space for your car and stop it from being towed away? It is time for authorities to smash these parking scams operating in the city, but especially in commercial places, where parking problems are rife.
Tell people how to recognise a genuine BMC pay-and-park lot and bonafide parking officials. Most people do not know how to distinguish between the two, as touts also supply fake parking receipts.
Senior police officials must crush the nexus, if any, between cops and the touts. Finally, one has to move with determination on the parking scam all over the city, which seem to be growing as the space for cars shrinks. It is a big challenge in the commuting map of Mumbai and needs to be tackled head on.
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