Gzb: Parking rates doubled, parking time slashed by half

THE CIVIC BODY SAID RATES WERE HIKED FOR DISINCENTIVISING USE OF PRIVATE VEHICLES BY RATIONALISING PUBLIC PARKING RATES SO AS TO CUT POLLUTION

The executive committee of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation on Thursday approved a proposal to double the parking rates of vehicles in parking lots controlled by the civic body across the city, senior officials in the know of the matter said, adding that the rate hike will be applicable only for new contracts and not existing ones.

According to officials, the corporation has 24 parking lots across the city, where a fee of ₹5 for bicycles, ₹10 for two-wheelers and ₹20 for four-wheelers is collected for a period of 12 hours.

The proposal okayed by the executive committee on Thursday has doubled the rate for each category of vehicles, besides halving the parking time to six hours.

“The new rates are for the new parking contracts whenever they come up after tenders,” said Vikramaditya Malik, municipal commissioner.

The proposal stated that the hike in parking charges was effected in view of legal directions and orders by the Commission for Air Quality Management, the agency overseeing pollution abatement measures in Delhi and the National Capital

Region of which Ghaziabad is a part, for “dis-incentivising use of private vehicles through rationalising of the public parking rates/charges, including levying congestion/peak hour charges”, said officials

Ghaziabad city mayor Sunita Dayal said the new rates will increase the revenue of the civic agency, besides discouraging use of private vehicles.

“We have also come to know that there are many lots being run without any authorisation from the corporation. We will shut these down soon. Discussion was also held on the proposed hike in property tax. But we councillors said we will not allow the proposed structure as it will heavily burden households. I have also written to the state government about the issue and requested them not to hike the tax,” Dayal said.

Earlier in January, the corporation decided to implement a new rental value structure for determining the property tax on households from financial year 2024-2025 and this was to come into effect from April 1.

The officials said the state government approved the new structure on October 27, 2023, hence it was ready to be implemented.

According to the existing tax structure, the rental values of properties range from 0.87 paise per square foot to ₹1.32 per square foot for different colonies. According to the existing tax structure, the rental values of properties range from 0.87 paise per square foot to ₹1.32 per square foot for different colonies.

Under the new structure, the residential colonies have been grouped under three categories – A, B and C.

Under the new structure, colonies in category A will have rental value in the range of ₹1.75 to ₹4 per square foot; category B colonies will have values 0.50p to ₹3.5 per square foot while category C colonies will have rental values in the range of 0.30p to ₹3 per square foot.

When contacted, municipal commissioner Malik preferred not to comment on the issue.