JOIN USIn the absence of adequate parking space in Bengaluru, especially in the Central Business District (CBD), the traffic police are booking more and more motorists for wrong parking and parking on footpath.
In 2015, a record 21 lakh cases of wrong parking were registered, the most violation among 38 traffic offences.
For the first time, the police registered more than 20 lakh cases of a single traffic violation. While they had registered 18.33 lakh cases of wrong parking in 2014, the figure for 2013 was 19.95 lakh. The data only shows the severity of the parking problem which has remained unaddressed.
The police also registered a significant number of cases pertaining to parking at intersection (26,607), parking at BMTC bus stop (37,924) and parking on footpath (80,468). In all, they registered as many as 75.22 lakh traffic violations last year and netted a whopping Rs 70 crore in fine, the highest ever.
At the same time, however, the police are not towing away every vehicle parked in the wrong place. Although they towed away more vehicles (99,236) in 2015 than in 2014 (84,074), the number is still lower than that recorded between 2008 and 2011 (See table).
The penalty for wrong parking is Rs 100. But if the vehicle is towed away, the penalty is Rs 300 (two-wheelers) and Rs 400 (cars). The penalty includes a fine of Rs 100, vehicle towing charges of Rs 100 and the rest to the traffic police. For every towed car, Rs 150 is the towing charge and an equal amount charged by the traffic police.
M A Saleem, ACP (Traffic), told Deccan Herald that cases of wrong parking had gone up but tow-away ones come down. “We recorded more cases of wrong parking from residential areas through the ‘public eye’ initiative. The enforcement is better now,” he said.
Merlyn Carmeline, a student at St Joseph’s College, said that most ‘no-parking’ signboards were hardly visible as they had not been painted for years.