NOIDA: The hike in parking fees at Sector 18 market from Rs 30 per day to Rs 20 per hour has come as a setback for local businessmen and shop owners. The traders said people have started avoiding the market, thus bringing down the sales by nearly 50%. The visitors have either started searching for new places in neighbouring markets or near metro station to park their vehicles, they claimed
On Sunday, a visitor had to shell out Rs 100 to park his vehicle for a little over four hours. Similar stories are recounted by others with parking charges going up to Rs 200 for 10 hours in the market. Once a bustling market on weekends, it now has limited footfall, mostly of shop owners and their staff.
“On Sunday, I visited Sector 18 market and had to shell out Rs 100 for parking my car for a little over four hours. I feel these charges are extremely high. While parking feein a premium mall like DLF is Rs 60 for an entire day, in Sector 18 people are being charged Rs 20/hour. This policy is against the public who needs to visit this market every once in a while,” said Akshay Kapoor, a resident of Sector 44.
Even business meetings at popular cafés have also become less frequent. “Earlier, for a few hours of business meeting, we would spend nearly Rs 200 over coffee and sandwich at the market. But now, if we add the parking charges of Rs 100 to it, the meeting costs much higher than the food or beverages we order,” said Rajesh Singh, a business executive with a leading MNC.
While the staff in different stores and restaurants demand a salary hike of Rs 5,000-Rs 6,000 due to increased parking fee, the shop owners maintain that due to downfall in business, they cannot agree to the demands of the staff.
Restaurateur Varun Khera of Desi Vibes restaurant in the market maintained that rates should be less than nearby Great India Place (GIP) mall or else reversed to old parking rates. “We are losing out on customers with new charges. Some customers do not even know about the new parking fees,” said Khera.
Shop owners complained that due to higher rates of multi-level parking, the purpose of public utility service is lost. “The parking charges of multi-level parking should have been kept nominal so that roads are clear. But it’s a bizarre situation now with high rate of multi-level parking and even higher parking charges on the roads of Sector 18 market,” said S K Jain, president, Sector 18 market association. Jain is preparing to file a PIL in the Allahabad high court by next month and has even initiated a signature campaign on Monday against the hiked parking charges.
