[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by vijit.gangwar

Something like this is very common. It is a way of promoting their own cars among employees.

Buddy, I politely disagree with you.

This is NOT promoting one's brand cars to the down-level employees BUT forcing the cars down one's throat.

[farooq817]

Originally Posted by turbodude

Another rule in the company that you must park your car in such a way that it faces the road in between. It cannot be parked in a position in which headlights are facing the compound wall.

Originally Posted by blackwasp

See this from a safety point of view. Parking the car facing the road/gate will enable quicker exit than say reversing the car. It's a good practice to reverse the car into the parking slot. While going out (incase of some emergency), you'll not waste time.

Originally Posted by vibbs

The point is, it saves time while taking the car out. Net effect (ie. Parking plus taking the car out) might be the same in either case. But during an emergency taking the cars out would be faster if parked with front end facing the road. That is what they are trying to achieve I believe.

This is a rule about which I had heard earlier as well. And I guess it is enforced outside India in some of the countries as well. Not sure where but I definitely heard about this. The idea is not to save time because it might approximately be the same either to while parking or exiting the office. One reason that a cousin of mine who drives in Dubai suggested was that when you are in the driving mode i.e., driving for some distance say from home to office, it becomes a lot easier to park the car than when you are fresh where you have to reverse the car out of the parking spot. I/he might be wrong though but just an understanding.
In my case, I mostly park the car in such a way that I can just start immediately. Only exceptions being when there are 2 wheelers blocking the driveway at home in such a way that its difficult to park in reverse.

[VinodDevil81]

Originally Posted by vijit.gangwar

Tata Motors Pimpri only allows Tata cars to enter.
MSIL Gurgaon only allows Maruti cars to enter.

Something like this is very common. It is a way of promoting their own cars among employees.

The reason you have mentioned may be true.
May be they are doing it to promote their car sales among employees.
But still I feel it is weird.

Just imagine,If Mercedes or BMW also decide to implement such rules like Tata and MSIL, what would the poor employees do?

Such things are a matter of personal preference and should be left to the individual's choice.
There are better ways for the company to promote its product among its employees like giving a certain percent of discount to the employees if he/she buys its car.
Or it can be in the form of car loans to the employees, with lower interest rates, if the car being bought is one of the companies product.

I'm sure such steps will attract more employees to voluntarily buy its cars, than forcibly making them to buy its car just for the sake of getting entry into the company premises.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

This is NOT promoting one's brand cars to the down-level employees BUT forcing the cars down one's throat.

Some companies can be very touchy about employees or business associates using rival products.

Twenty years ago when I was working at United Parcel Services World Technology HQ, they would refuse to accept any FedEx packages.

[Altocumulus]

Originally Posted by iamahunter

As GTO rightly pointed, its a way to quick exit. As the cabs leave at similar timings, it may cause a congestion if you take a 3 point turn.
Plus you get a clear view of the oncoming vehicle while exiting from parking spot.

This is not the only reason specially from an admin point of view. The main reason for keeping the car facing outside is so that the relevant company parking stickers are visible and make sure other company cars are not parked there specially where there is a crunch. If you do a check it is not feasible to go around checking all cars.

[smarth.katyal]

This might go a little off topic, but the approach of parking the car with the engine bay facing the road has never gone down my throat very well. I am constantly worried that if the car is hit by some drunkard or careless or diverted driver, the thing that is going to take the maximum impact and cost a lot more to repair will be the engine bay with expensive components. Hence, whenever i have an option, i park with the butt of the car facing the road, and the engine bay safely tucked towards a wall.
I have witnessed two incidents where this has been very beneficial. One with myself when my own car was involved in a hit and run right outside my house(We park our car on the ramp). The rear end was smashed by some unknown car/truck/bus and the cost of repair was upwards for 40k. On the second occasion, two cars, parked opposite to our house, with their engine bay facing the fall and back towards the road, was hit by a drunkard. The impact was so hard that both cars had completely shifted from their positions and a tree was uprooted. Repair cost was upwards of 1.5lakh for both cars. In this case, insurer would have declared complete loss if it was the front of the car that had taken the impact.

But it does make sense in an emergency situation that we may be able to take out our car quickly.

Adding to some weird rules, i know a company which has dedicated parking spaces for women. Which makes no sense because, the parking is just like all other available spaces. The building is in the center, and all the cars are parked around the building, why then dedicate specific slots for women drivers?

[GeeTee TSI]

Oil and gas industry in general views driving as the biggest hazard out there. Here are a few more from my Organisation

Seatbelt is a condition of employment (non compliance in official travel leads to termination)

Besides ABS and airbags, each passenger requires 3 point seatbelts and headrest (Etios is a 3 passenger and Innova, a 5 passenger vehicle)

No three wheelers allowed inside our premises (that includes the water jar delivery guy and the caterer as well)

Not even employees can bring vehicles inside our premises if it has no seatbelts (kaali-peelis won't be of help even during monsoons, let alone autos)

[kestersujay]

This is quite a common practice in auto industries. But the disadvantage is that their employees would be totally ignorant to the features or quality levels in their competitors vehicles.

In fact in TVS (which is a 2, 3 wheeler manufacturer) they place restrictions on 4 wheelers too like against Maruti (coz of Suzuki) & so on.

I attended a Safety culture training program organised by my company. The faculty were from DuPont who are renowned for their safety culture at workplace.

They said if they get into cabs that don't have seat belts & proper head rests they could lose their job. And they rejected our company cabs thrice.

Also in Japan if you are caught for drunken driving, you could lose your job.

[Mithrandir]

We don't like rules but sometimes in a civic society we must follow them nonetheless. Its a necessary evil. While your friend at L&T may find the rules weird, I am sure there must be a reason for it. Big corporate companies often have many security risks. Not just the risk of potential terrorist attacks but also theft and corporate espionage. They would not like some unidentified vehicle parked in their premises (even if it belongs to their employee) and they have every right to do so. We find it weird because we are not used to it. But its more common abroad. When it comes to security, its better be safe than sorry especially when the stakes are high.

[audioholic]

In any of Daimlers companies in India, people above the mid level management are by default provided with Mercedes cars depending upon level. Once they feel that you can afford to own one of the big brands, they will immediately give you their own car so that you wouldnt pull into office with a competitors car The result is that there is no other brand of car above the 20L bracket in the office compound.

For the regular joe, seatbelt, helmet is compulsory. Heck they even pester the cabbies to wear seat belt everyday.

Coming to parking the car in reverse, I personally feel this also has a fire safety advantage. In case the engine bay catches fire, its easier to access the area rather than that facing a wall. Its also easier from the towing point of view in case it needs to be towed for any reason. That said, I fully agree with the idea of being able to leave office easily by parking that way. Both at home and office I park in reverse.

[thecarguy]

My father works for a renowned Japanese car company. Name starts with T. Even though he does not work in the automobile division, he is supposed to either own or lease the car of the same make and is expected to drive it to the office everyday. Since clients are never called to the office and the employees are chauffeured to the venue of the meet in company cars, this rule seems to be a waste. It has often come in the way of us purchasing a car of any other make since it will be rarely driven. Sigh.

[vivtho]

Originally Posted by Carz77

this is quite common across many Auto companies. I have seen this happening even in Chrysler and GM in US. I believe it is the same at Ford too.
I think this policy is mainly to encourage the employees to buy their own products. They often have employee discount programs to promote their cars

The Apple parking lot has a lot of sports and luxury cars ranging from 'humble' BMWs to Bentleys. It'll be interesting to see if Apple implements such a policy when they launch their car.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by vivtho

The Apple parking lot has a lot of sports and luxury cars ranging from 'humble' BMWs to Bentleys. It'll be interesting to see if Apple implements such a policy when they launch their car.

Maybe one should try carrying a Samsung phone in Apple's corporate office?
As far as I remember Bajaj auto doesn't prohibit its employees from riding bikes of other manufacturer's. What they do is to provide a lucrative discount on their bikes for employees so that it is a no brainer for the employee to buy a Bajaj product.

[swiftnfurious]

Cant recollect all the organizations, but some of the rules

Intel

1. Driving within 10 kmph speed inside the campus & heavy fines if not complied. I have seen drivers crawling & respecting the rule.

DELL(?)

2. 2 wheeler riders not allowed without helmet; so intelligent souls ride without helmet all the way till gate & wear it before entering the campus.

3. Mandatory seatbelt for cab drivers; they wear it till the exit gate.

4. If caught under DUI at any point of time, termination to follow.

Infosys:

5. Rs. 500/- for a single day parking (@ e-city campus in Bangalore, 2010 time frame) if you bring your personal vehicle. Company encourages using company transportation mode. Not sure the rates still hold good or revised.

Those who frown about the car manufacturers not allowing other brands in the parking, I guess there is nothing wrong. Nobody is shoving anything down the employees throat. People who show the loyalty get some extra benefit. The employees are not restricted from buying another product, just that their entry to the reserved slot is restricted; this while still having a provision for parking other vehicles. I think they are very well in a position to give advantage to the few who have that extra brand loyalty.

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

Maybe one should try carrying a Samsung phone in Apple's corporate office?...

They H-A-T-E it! Not only Samsung, devices running Windows are also known to evoke negative reaction.

[Samurai]

Let's focus on the safety rules. India is one of the most safety ignorant countries. As a result we find all these safety rules stupid or weird or whatever.

Just some points:

1) Most two-wheeler riders in India play Russian roulette on the roads and are not even aware it. They carry helmets on their elbow, just to wear it when they see the cops. They cut off a car, get in front and slow down. They don't even thank car driver for saving their worthless life.
2) Now India is full of 4-lane highways with dividers. But the citizens don't know how to use it. They would rather drive on wrong side until there is opening in the divider, than take a U-turn up ahead. Just last week my 73 year old maternal uncle was telling me how to drive on the wrong side to save 100 meters of extra travel for an U-turn, he does it all the time in his scooter.
3) I have employees who have had multiple accidents where they got head injuries due to lack of helmet. My office has a mandatory helmet rule since forever, even for pillion. Yet they try to bypass the helmet rule when I am not around.
4) When I am in a Taxi getting out of Mangalore city limits, the driver politely tells me that I can get out of the seat belts now that we are not in city limits. He almost sounds like the aircraft pilot who says "seat belts signs are switched off, now you can live dangerously and even get killed".
5) I've seen motorcyclists driving helmet-less on a road full of potholes balancing a mobile phone between their head and shoulder, and then give a sneering look at me driving the car wearing seat belts.
6) Most drivers don't know that you shouldn't park in front of a gate, near a junction, in a blind curve, on the wrong side, or simply obstructing traffic. They think I am being fussy when I look for a parking spot that doesn't violate any of the above.

The problem is with driver education. Our driver licensing process doesn't contain anything about driving etiquette and use cases of how to deal with various traffic situations. They only expect us to know traffic signs and vehicle control. There is no driver manual. Even the new motor vehicle of 2015 focuses on fund raising by imposing higher penalties than educating people how to drive. Since governments have totally failed to inculcate any safety habit, it has come down to corporates to teach their employees about safety.

Originally Posted by Lambydude

I have seen on multiple occasions where new employees try to throw the 'Do you know who I'm' attitude while breaking parking rules.

The best answer would be "potential ex-employee?"