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-   -   Mumbai - Parking Racket At Crawford Market (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/69559-mumbai-parking-racket-crawford-market.html)

Twice in the last month, I have been to the Crawford Market area and in trying to park at the Municipal Parking lots (which are anyway crammed to the gills),
the guys ask me how long I intend to park....(2 hrs).

Once I was quoted a price of 30 rs and the second time 80 rs!, when it should be all of 8rs!

Not really possible to stand and argue given the constant flow of traffic and the 'technically' full lot and all the attendants are in on the racket
, so I sent off my driver to park elsewhere

I have not seen this elsewhere in Mumbai. Has anyone else experienced this?

Yes you are right. There is definitely a racket at Crawford. I too faced the same thing 2 weeks back. The attendant asked me the duration. When I said 1 hour, he immediately quoted a price of Rs 50 (valet services included).

I complained to the nearby traffic cop. He refused to help. His excuse was - "this is a Pay and park operated by BMC, and we are Traffic Police. Since it is outside our purview, we cannot help you."

For 'Pay and Park' - you mean to say there are no specific tariff as prescribed by BMC? - Do they give you an official reciept for the amount paid or just like take the money and go?
Most of the places, whether corporation or municipality there is a fixed rate for parking cars/buses/trucks etc.?

Ha ha, there's a fixed rate everywhere, but the demand / supply imbalance ensures that parking attendants are free to fleece you at will.
I have experienced a similar racket at many places in Mumbai.

50/- for an hour. Too much money.

The other people roaming in Mumbai in their cars seem to be very rich people.

Traffic police Huh, They are all involved in these scams and get their due. This is how India operated and it's getting worse day by day.

What surprises me is don't they hand over a receipt once you park your car? That reciept does have written - time in and charges and leaves very little scope for those guys to cheat. Even I have been there many times but since my brother drives when we are in Mumbai I don't know the charges :(

Dude this is India, Receipts and that too from a Municipal Parking spot :Shockked:. There are only two things that have value in India, a) Your vehicle has a VIP Light/Siren, b) your wallet has loads of paper with Mr. Gandhi printed on.:deadhorse

Yes, arishi - we do get receipts from these lots. I do remember receiving a receipt from a parking lot in Mumbai near alpha stores in Andheri (a narrow road opp to cooper hospital). The smart thing these guys(attendants) do is : if you don't ask for it - they pocket the money for themselves.

My mom had once parked at the M.C.G.M. parking lot of Kala Ghoda, right next to Jehangir Art Gallery on a Saturday. The person in-charge had given her a machine generated receipt which only had the Receipt Number, Location, Car number, Check-in time and other miscellaneous details, but no mention of the charges per hour.
That day, she was charged 10 rupees per hour, therefore 40 rupees for 4.
On monday when she intended to park at the same lot, the person approached her asking for the keys and a whopping sum of 50 rupees per hour!!! (Reason given : "Doosra gaadi aata hai toh aage-piche karna padta hai")
After some bargaining, he finally charged her 30 bucks per hour (which still is a lot!).
So my guess is that these things are prevalent in South Mumbai mostly.

Never give them your keys, I once parked at the lot opposite Badshah coldrinks and saw this attendant enjoying in someone's civic with the a/c on fiddling with the music system buttons.....:Shockked:

Always insist on keeping the keys with yourself.

lol:your right.i saw a guy just sleeping in the car with the AC on.thought he was probably a driver but when i came back from zaffran to take my car he was the one i paid the money too.

they charge according to the no. of cars on that day.but normally its around 30-50 for 1-2 hours

agree: At the Old Airport in Bangalore the parking fee was Rs. 60 for 0 to 2 hours!!!

This incident is not at C. market but at Dadar TT below flyover.
Yesterday I had gone to Dadar TT and parked below flyover in area after the circle towards Kings circle, This area is less crowded and parking is available.
That creep attendent came and gave me a yellow slip and asked me how long wil I park?
I ignored him and went away, but seeing the slip was a surprise , it had only M C G B and car no, time, amount. No receipt no,parking rates etc.wWhen I told him that there is no receipt no. he said saab samaj lenge.koi chinta nahin hai.

When I came back to the car after 2 hrs this chap told me to pay 30/-. Itold him to show me the rate board, receipt no.
He was speechless , then I started talking loudly about the rate board, receipt no. etc. He told me to pay what ever Iwant to payhim.I paid him 10/- , he took it and went away.
This racket of parking is still on inspite of surprise checks, on them I have presereved that slip with me .
Can anyone tell me pls where to lodge complaint about this area of pay and park.Regards......

Oh that seems to be old thread but thats a sad story . I guess it is the same story everywhere ,faced similar situation a couple of times on MG road Pune , but these guys take it the easy way the moment you start questioning them in a harsh tone .

Have tried the traffic warden way , but didnt appear to help . I had the Press card to tone him down (paper main chapna hai kya {you want your photo to be published in the paper }) but still was just wandering is there an escalation hierarchy to this , just like the FB Traffic police page or something ??

With the parking(s) being a high demand stuff these days these guys are taking us for a ride