Soon, park your car at BEST depots

“The BMC has recently revised its parking rates for public parking lots. Based on the revision of rates, we propose to charge Rs 200 for 12-hour parking of heavy vehicles like buses on a daily basis, Rs 150 for light vehicles such as cars and Rs 75 for two-wheelers. The applicable service tax will also be added to these rates,” said an official.

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A monthly rate is also being considered — Rs 5,000 for heavy vehicles, Rs 4,000 for light four-wheelers. The proposal will now be scrutinised by the BEST Committee comprising elected representatives.

BEST has also considered the feasibility of the proposal vis-a-vis security concerns. “Whoever is allotted parking will have to adhere to all security checks of the vehicles entering and leaving the depot premises They will also have to ensure that their vehicles leave and enter only along designated routes,” said an official.

A BEST spokesperson said the parking space would be subject to available space after ensuring that the smooth functioning of the depots is not affected. “We will ensure that vehicles are parked only within the parking area earmarked at the bus depot,” added the spokesperson. There is a rider on damage to vehicles, however: The BEST undertaking will not be liable to compensate any vehicle owner in case of any accident or damages to vehicles parked inside.

A while back, fresh from a study tour of Istanbul, corporaters decided to float a proposal to open restaurants inside BEST bus depots, offering reasonably priced food. “Various proposals for commercial utilisation of depots are being looked at for revenue generation,” said a spokesperson.

ruhi.bhasin@expressindia.com