A majority of the motorists in Bengaluru who park their vehicles on the main road do not mind coughing up fines slapped on them by the traffic police insisting that it works out to be cheaper than parking in malls that charge on an hourly basis.
Due to this, most of the double lane roads in the Central Business District have are lined with parked cars, reducing traffic movement to a single lane. Taking strong exception to this, the traffic police started cracking the whip and towing the vehicles away instead of simply slapping spot fines. This measure forces motorists to pay hefty towing charges in addition to illegal parking fines.
"We tow as many as 300 vehicles per day in the CBD, not only to create awareness but also deter motorists from parking illegally," Additional Commissioner of Police (traffic) R. Hitrendra said. But these measures do not seem to be having an impact as motorists continue to park cars illegally.
It doesn’t help that there is a dearth of parking space in the city.
"We are also lobbying for a hefty congestion fee for wrong parking, but the problem is that registration plates are not standardised", said another officer.
If registration plates are standardised, surveillance cameras can identify them through the number plates and generate challans automatically.
Urban planners say that unless the issue of parking spaces in the city is addressed, measures like hefty fines will have little impact on the problem of illegal parking.
