Clamp down on every illegal pay-and-park facility

That’s when they began questioning the legitimacy of the facility.

The Ulhasnagar civic body has cracked down on a bogus pay-and-park facility.

Citizens who paid to park their two-wheelers at the facility were still issued e-challans for illegal parking. Over 125 two-wheeler owners, who have been using the facility outside Shahad railway station for years, are shocked that they have been allegedly scammed. They claimed the so-called pay-and-park facility had been operating for over 15 years before being exposed as illegal. A Shahad resident said she had been parking her two-wheeler outside the station for the past eight years. Some people even forked out a monthly sum, but a couple of days ago,  they started receiving fine notices! That’s when they began questioning the legitimacy of the facility.

It is unacceptable for illegal spaces to go unchecked for more than a decade and for the authorities to wake up and declare it illegal after citizens are swindled.  This shows the rot goes down deep and right to the top. The fact that a legit board was put up at the space, and people have been paying and parking for so many years, is baffling to say the least. What were authorities doing till now in a very visible spot?

How can people check whether a board is legit? They can look at their receipts but conmen have a way of copying legit receipts or at least put some kind of logo so that they resemble the original. One can hardly expect ordinary citizens to spot the difference.

False parking lots, bogus attendants, people forced to pay ‘n’ park and hand over money to impersonators is a fast spreading malaise, given the battleground parking paucity is, in the city. Authorities cannot let this fester, in fact stop it now with fast, decisive and thorough action, so that parking touts and illegal parking spaces are stamped out. 

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