Bhubaneswar: Taking cognizance of the collection of parking fees ‘illegally’ despite restrictions, Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) on Monday issued notices to as many as 14 hospitals and shopping malls in the city for violating off-street parking norms.
The notices have been served to- Symphony Mall (Rudrapur), The World Mall (Madhusudan Nagar), Forum Mart (Kharavela Nagar), Maruti Estate (India) Pvt Ltd (Patia), Pal Mantra (Mouza-Pahala), Surachi Continental Pvt Ltd (Pantaloons, Saheed Nagar), Bhawani Constructions Pvt Ltd, Director Safari Retreats (Rasulgarh), Lifeline Mutliventure Pvt Ltd (DN Regalia, Bhagabanpur), The Central Mall, M/s Lalchand Builders (Saheed Nagar), Apollo Hospital Enterprises Ltd (Sainik School Road), Kalinga Hospital Ltd (Jaydev Vihar) and Quality Care India Ltd (Chandrasekharpur).
The move comes in the wake of reports that several commercial establishments in Bhubaneswar have been openly flouting the October 16 directive issued by BDA which had clearly mentioned not to collect fees for off-street parking in their premises.
OTV reality check too found that the BDA order was being flouted by prominent shopping malls in the city.
“It has also come to the notice of BDA that some of the shopping malls, multiplexes and apartments are imposing parking charges/fees. This is not consistent with the provisions of the BDA (P&BS) regulations as well as the approved building plan. The developers/owners are directed to stop the illegal practice of charging of parking fees from the visitors, immediately,” the letter read.
The letter further mentioned that BDA will take strict action on such developers who are charging illegal-parking fees towards the parking spaces already exempted from calculation FAR under the provisions of BDA (Planning and Buildings Standards) Regulations, 2018.
"It has been found that the parking area shown in the approved building plan is being used for purposes other than parking of vehicles in some of such buildings. This has led to on-street parking which is adversely affecting traffic movement on the public road," stated BDA.