MATTERS RELATING TO PARKING FEES
I was amazed at how much we do not know about parking our vehicles in public road, commercial complexes, commercial shops, malls etc. Many of you may have seen parking fees being charged by many in cities c...laiming to have contracts with private owners of the commercial complexes, malls etc.
Can Commercial complex, shop, malls, theatre owners charge a parking fee?
No they cannot unless there is a special permission to do so from the respective city government (municipality, corporation etc). The rationale behind it is that the parking areas in all commercial buildings, complexes and malls are public properties for the benefit of the shoppers. All commercial buildings/complexes/malls are approved ONLY after they legally gift common areas and parking spaces etc to the respective city government who holds it on behalf of the public.
Even the contractors who collects parking fee for parking on roads must be approved by the respective municipality/corporation office and they must display valid contract and fees at all times.
Further, you may see some of the municipalities and corporations might designate sides (shoulders) of some stretches of the roads for parking and give out contracts for collection of parking fees. While this is OK for roads that were approved before 1950 or so, any road that was approved after 1950 cannot be legally used for parking unless it was approved as such using the law or statute that was applicable at that time. The reason for that is that none of the laws or statutes relating to formation of road and commercial development allows using the road for parking. So, it is normally not possible for the city government to legally claim a right to parking on public roads that were formed after 1950 unless it is proven that there was no law governing it usage at the relevant time. This is possible in some case since there was a vacuum of laws governing development till about 1970, after which most states came up with the “Town and Country Planning Act”. Before that they were mostly governed by the Cantonments Act and Corporation and Municipal acts that was applicable to big cities. The bottom line is that unless the city can legally make a case for usage of roads for parking, they cannot simply designate a portion of the road for parking as such and any such direction or notifications by the city government can be effectively challenged. And, yes the city government cannot get away saying that the shopping public don’t have a place to park their vehicle. The reason being it is the responsibility of the city government and the commercial property owners to solve this problem, as the common man and residents around that area have the right over the use of the road for commuting that cannot be taken away.
The concept of individual’s right of ownership and possession of property is absolutely a myth. A decent analysis of this can be found in AP High Court’s judgment in Ch. Madan Mohan And Ors. vs Municipal Corporation Of ... on 2 May, 2003 (AIR 2003 AP 393, 2003 (4) ALD 6) [http://indiankanoon.org/doc/34967/]. It is a good read for those curious minds!
Though some of the laws and statutes are different for different states, the overall principles behind it are the same and thus this is applicable in all states.
I was amazed at how much we do not know about parking our vehicles in public road, commercial complexes, commercial shops, malls etc. Many of you may have seen parking fees being charged by many in cities c...laiming to have contracts with private owners of the commercial complexes, malls etc.
Can Commercial complex, shop, malls, theatre owners charge a parking fee?
No they cannot unless there is a special permission to do so from the respective city government (municipality, corporation etc). The rationale behind it is that the parking areas in all commercial buildings, complexes and malls are public properties for the benefit of the shoppers. All commercial buildings/complexes/malls are approved ONLY after they legally gift common areas and parking spaces etc to the respective city government who holds it on behalf of the public.
Even the contractors who collects parking fee for parking on roads must be approved by the respective municipality/corporation office and they must display valid contract and fees at all times.
Further, you may see some of the municipalities and corporations might designate sides (shoulders) of some stretches of the roads for parking and give out contracts for collection of parking fees. While this is OK for roads that were approved before 1950 or so, any road that was approved after 1950 cannot be legally used for parking unless it was approved as such using the law or statute that was applicable at that time. The reason for that is that none of the laws or statutes relating to formation of road and commercial development allows using the road for parking. So, it is normally not possible for the city government to legally claim a right to parking on public roads that were formed after 1950 unless it is proven that there was no law governing it usage at the relevant time. This is possible in some case since there was a vacuum of laws governing development till about 1970, after which most states came up with the “Town and Country Planning Act”. Before that they were mostly governed by the Cantonments Act and Corporation and Municipal acts that was applicable to big cities. The bottom line is that unless the city can legally make a case for usage of roads for parking, they cannot simply designate a portion of the road for parking as such and any such direction or notifications by the city government can be effectively challenged. And, yes the city government cannot get away saying that the shopping public don’t have a place to park their vehicle. The reason being it is the responsibility of the city government and the commercial property owners to solve this problem, as the common man and residents around that area have the right over the use of the road for commuting that cannot be taken away.
The concept of individual’s right of ownership and possession of property is absolutely a myth. A decent analysis of this can be found in AP High Court’s judgment in Ch. Madan Mohan And Ors. vs Municipal Corporation Of ... on 2 May, 2003 (AIR 2003 AP 393, 2003 (4) ALD 6) [http://indiankanoon.org/doc/34967/]. It is a good read for those curious minds!
Though some of the laws and statutes are different for different states, the overall principles behind it are the same and thus this is applicable in all states.
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