india

Updated: Dec 24, 2018 20:29 IST

The Delhi government on Monday ordered the “immediate withdrawal” of last week’s order hiking the mandatory one-time parking fee across most of the city by as much as 18 times from January 1.

According to an order issued by the state transport department on Friday, the revised one-time parking fee on purchase of every four-wheeler will range from Rs 6,000 to Rs 75,000. The decision, which was taken on the basis of a proposal put by the three municipal corporations in Delhi, has led to the creation of six categories based on the cost of the vehicle. Currently, the fee is either Rs 2,000 or Rs 4,000 depending on the vehicle’s cost.

An order by Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot said that the December 21 order “appears to be irregular for many reasons”.

He listed four - that the change should have been notified by the urban development department which is the administrative department for the three municipal corporations, not the transport department which is only a “collection agent” for the civic bodies; that it left the parking lots under the New Delhi Municipal Council and the Delhi Cantonment Board; and that the law department had not been consulted on the matter.

Finally, Gahlot said, the order was issued without placing the file concerned before him. As such, he directed that the order be withdrawn immediately and the file be brought before him.

The Friday order was the first time that the one-time parking fee has been revised ever since it was introduced in the capital in 2004. The move had, however, angered bus and taxi operators as the annual parking fee for different categories of commercial vehicles would rise and they had threatened to protest the move if the charges are not rolled back.