Ludhiana: Vehicle parking rates at bus stand exorbitant, complain residents

Claiming that the charges for parking vehicles at the Amar Shaheed Sukhdev Interstate Bus Station are exorbitant, residents have urged the authorities concerned to look into the matter. Many say they are forced to pay higher fees even if they park their vehicle for only a few minutes.

A senior manager overseeing the parking area noted that the bus stop previously operated with four separate time slots of four hours, eight hours, 12 hours and more than 12 hours. But after a private contractor took over the parking operations of Punjab Roadways in April 2023, these have now been reduced to just two slots of 12 hours and above, much to the dismay of visitors who have to pay even to stop here for a minute.

Previously, as per the revised rates in July 2016, the charge for parking a bicycle for the day was ₹2 which has now been covered ₹4. For parking a two-wheeler for 12 hours, the rates were ₹10 who is now ₹17. For the whole day (two-wheeler) it was ₹20 which is now ₹35.

Likewise, the rate for four-wheeled vehicles was ₹20 for 12 hours which has now been increased to ₹35 while for the day, it was ₹40 which is now increased to ₹71. For each ferry, rickshaw fares were previously ₹10 who is now ₹18.

An autorickshaw driver, Harjeet Singh, mentioned that even though the fare is ₹18, parking lots take ₹20 citing lack of currency, which further increases its expenses for picking up and dropping off passengers at bus stops.

Kunwar Singh, a visitor who dropped off his wife, shared his frustration, saying: “I paid ₹36 for parking my car for only 10 minutes. There should be separate lanes for people who are only there to greet their family members.

Another visitor said that the authorities concerned should look into the functioning of the parking operator.

Acknowledging the problem, one car park staff member said it was difficult to write a separate note for visitors using the car park for long hours. Therefore, they charge them according to the allocated time slots.

Navraj Batish, general manager of Punjab Roadways, said the revised fees were not included in his notice. “I will ask the relevant officials to look into the matter,” he added.