Do hospitals in city have right to levy parking fee?

Depending on their location, most hospitals across the capital charge Rs 20-40 for the first two hours as parking fee, with Rs 10-15 extra for extra hours.

With 35 private hospitals under its jurisdiction, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation has now advised customers to not pay the fee saying that these hospitals have been illegally charging for the service.

According to the civic body, a majority of the hospitals show parking as a free service in their building plans. These include Fortis Flt. Lt. Rajan Dhall Hospital at Vasant Kunj, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital at Sarita Vihar and Max Super Specialty Hospital and Saket City Hospital at Saket. No hospital has initiated any action despite the issue being raised by SDMC earlier this month.

According to SDMC, hospitals are supposed to provide designated car spaces based on the size of the plot and building plan.

“While getting their plans approved, they got a relaxation on floor area ratio on the basis that parking would be provided free. But they end up using them for commercial purpose,” says Bharatiya Janata Party leader Radhey Shyam Sharma, chairman of the SDMC standing committee.

Sources say a hospital in Patparganj had to provide parking for 588 cars according to its building plan. But it converted some basement area into medical facilities as it expanded from a 150-bed to a 400-bed hospital. Such practices are stated to be common among hospitals across the capital. 

The SDMC will now identify the erring hospitals and put their names on its website. The first list is likely to be out on Monday.

“We would urge people visiting these hospitals to not pay the parking fee,” adds Leader of House in SDMC Ashish Sood.

The SDMC is, however, expecting resistance from the hospital authorities. “We will force them to either operate the places as free parking spaces or charge only as per rates allowed by the SDMC. We will take a licence fee and monitor their parking rates,” Sood says.

The hospitals are also likely to share profits of the parking fee with the corporation to continue charging customers. The corporation, however, wants it to be comparable with their rates. “At present, our rates range from Rs 20 to 30 for the entire day. Under the Delhi Municipal Act, we have the right to impose strong orders on such illegal work,” Sood adds.

The SDMC plans to issue notice to the hospitals and hopes to completely implement a new system by January.

Awareness campaigns will also be conducted to inform customers to not pay parking charges until the hospitals seek permission from the corporation.

A parking attendant at Max Super Specialty Hospital in Saket tells Deccan Herald that currently they have no guidelines on parking from government authorities due to which they decide on the rates themselves. He adds that their parking lot was approved in the building plan. “We were not specifically informed by government authorities about parking rates,” says parking attendant Rakesh.

But customers feel the pinch. “When we go to a hospital for four-five hours, we end up paying Rs 100 for the parking apart from the thousands for treatment. The parking is also not managed properly due to the lack of space,” says Dheera Likha, an entrepreneur based in Chattarpur.

Sidhant Mukherjee, a resident of Mahipalpur says, “I feel a check must be kept on the parking rates as the hospitals charge high when compared to government run parking lots. The rates must be affordable for all sections of the society.”

When asked about the SDMC resolution, Max Healthcare authorities said, “We have not received any notice as of now.” The managements of Fortis Hospitals and Apollo Hospitals refused to comment.

The parking attendants of the hospitals feel that the hospitals alone cannot be blamed for the situation.

They say the hospitals are forced to outsource parking facilities due to the rush which forces them to keep the rates market driven. Revenue sharing is on option. “Corporation and hospitals can share their earmings,” says Irfan at Fortis Hospital.