Paying no heed to the established rules, the contractor for the underground parking in the Inter State Bus Terminal, Sector 43, is charging fees for parking vehicles in the area not earmarked for parking.

The people are forced to pay for parking their two wheelers in the open area allotted for free parking without being given any receipt for the same.

Apart from making people pay for parking in the area that is not earmarked for the same, the contractor provides explanations and excuses to those who ask for justification, saying that he has permission from the authorities.

“When I started my scooter after dropping a friend at the bus stand, I was asked to pay a parking fee of three rupees. As I had not parked my vehicle in the basement area earmarked for paid parking, I did not know that I was required to pay a fee. But a person standing outside the basement parking came running to me asking for money. It is nowhere mentioned that the area is earmarked for paid parking and people are forced to pay the parking money,” said Banita Thakur.

The parking fee being charged from this area is Rs three for two hours and Rs five for 24 hours.

The contractor of the basement parking, Manjit Singh, justified the move by saying he had permission from the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) authorities to charge money from two wheelers on Saturday and Sunday considering the huge rush of vehicles.

The CTU officials, however, denied having granted permission to any such

contractor.