Malls ; Malls in Chennai fleece vehicle owners

CHENNAI: When Yuvaraj Arumugam recently trundled out of a mall in Velachery on his scooter, he discovered the price he had to pay for being on a two-wheeler: While a high-end SUV in front of him paid 60 as parking fees, he was asked to cough up 100. 

"The attendant said cars were charged 30 for an hour and two-wheelers 50. I refused to pay and asked him for an explanation," said Arumugam, who went to Phoenix Market City mall with his family. The attendant was candid: The management wanted to keep out those they felt couldn't afford to shop at the mall and riding a two-wheeler was the parameter they judged by. 

While such discrimination may be new, arbitrary parking charges at malls in the city continue to rile visitors. In 2001, following a series of complaints from residents and others, the corporation had chalked out a plan to regulate parking fees in private lots. But there has been no official word on this since then. 

Parking charges at malls vary from 30 to 60 an hour. Unlike in Phoenix, most malls charge more for four-wheelers than two-wheelers or the same price. While Spencer's charges 20 for two-wheelers for the entire day, Chennai Citi Centre in Mylapore and Ampa Skywalk in Aminjikarai charge 20 for an hour. Express Avenue in Royapettah charges 30 for the first one hour and 20 for every additional hour. Charges at all malls are hiked during weekends and holidays. 

Movie-goers at Phoenix mall end up paying more for parking two-wheelers than for watching the movie. "My friend and I went to watch a movie at the complex and decided to go on our bike, thinking it would be cheaper to park," said S Karthik, an advertising firm employee. "We ended up paying 200 for three and a half hours of parking and 120 for the movie tickets," he said. 

With malls charging high parking fees, many park vehicles on surrounding streets. "We are tired of calling tow vehicles for cars parked close to our gates. Many a time, we find a line of cars parked in our locality and we find it hard to maneuver our own vehicles," said K Vasantha of Pycroft Road, close to Express Avenue mall. 

When contacted, a member of Phoenix mall's administrative body said they fixed parking charges of two-wheelers higher than cars for "business reasons." "I don't see why there should be an issue for anyone. We are not asking people to park on the mall's premises. It's only an option for them," he said, before hanging up. Express Avenue mall did not comment on the story. 

Shreya Gadepalli of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy said that from a legal perspective, malls were entitled to fix parking rates. "But we need to look at the bigger picture. Residents are being inconvenienced, visitors are being fleeced and our civic bodies could help alleviate that by improving our public transport, which should be our ultimate goal."

Ekatha Ann John, TNN | Nov 2, 2014, 01.51AM IST