The agency that has bagged the tender to handle vehicle parking at the KSRTC bus stand in Hassan has been collecting more than the tariff approved by the corporation, but officials have expressed helplessness in resolving the situation.
According to KSRTC officials, the fee for parking a car for one hour is ₹3. However, representatives of the private agency are collecting ₹10 for less than an hour. As a result, arguments are common between the cash counter staff and those who park for a few minutes to pick up or drop travellers.
Many people have lodged complaints with senior officials, but no step has been taken to resolve the matter, apart from putting up the price chart at the parking yard.
When this was brought to the notice of Yashvanth Kumar, Divisional Controller of KSRTC, he said, “We have put up price charts, what else can we do? We have warned the agency many times and also imposed a penalty. I am a small man in the big establishment. Tell me what else I can do.”
He added that the authorities have received only oral complaints and no one is willing to register a written one. “Only if we get complaints can we take action against the agency,” he said.
Similar story at the railway station
Residents of the district are also unhappy with the parking tariff charged at the Hassan railway station.
The person who has bagged the parking fee tender from South Western Railway collects ₹20 for four-wheelers and ₹10 for two-wheelers between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., no matter the duration of parking. This means even those who park for a few minutes end up paying a sizeable fee.
G.R. Manjunath, a resident of Vidyuth Nagar, told The Hindu , “The ticket from Hassan to Holenarsipur in a push-pull train costs ₹10. If I go to the railway station to drop a passenger in my car, I have to pay ₹20 for parking my vehicle and ₹10 for the platform ticket. There is no problem if they charge ₹20 if I park my vehicle for long, but doing so for a five-minute stop is unfair.”
Ravi Kumar of Vidya Nagar said, “Sometimes we have to wait for the arrival or departure of the train. Even if we park our two-wheeler for five or 10 minutes, they charge ₹10, which is actually the fee for 12 hours.”
Railway officials refused to comment on the matter. “It is the decision of the senior officers who floated the tender and fixed the price,” one of them said on condition of anonymity.
