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Hindustan Times
30-04-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Chandigarh: Stiffer fine for unpaid water bills in pipeline
In an effort to ensure timely payment of water bills and boost its revenue in one fell swoop, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) is planning to hike the penalty imposed for bills not cleared even after two months. The agenda will be discussed in the MC General House meeting on Wednesday, along with other crucial agendas, including hike in parking rates under the proposed Smart Parking project and a new Fire Safety Act for Chandigarh, among others. 'As per the Chandigarh Water Supply Bylaws, 2011, amended from time to time, a penalty is levied on consumers for delayed payment of water bill. The same surcharge (fine) is added in the next bill for delayed payment. However, there is no provision for compound surcharge on unpaid water bills due to non-payment in consecutive cycles, which leads to persistent default by some consumers,' MC officials said in the agenda. To plug this revenue leak, MC is proposing a 10% compound surcharge on every water bill unpaid even after two months. For perspective, if a consumer gets ₹100 as water bill every month, ₹10 (10% of the bill) is charged as penalty if the bill remains unpaid for a month. In the next cycle, the bill will rise to ₹210 ( ₹100 from last month plus ₹10 as penalty and ₹100 from current bill). However, if the bill still remains unpaid, the total next month will soar to ₹331 ( ₹210 arrears plus ₹21 as compound penalty and ₹100 from current bill). The move aims to ensure timely clearance of water bills, a major source of revenue for the civic body, besides property tax and garbage fee, said an MC official. Also on agenda today During the Wednesday meeting, the civic body will also discuss its plan to revive the Smart Parking Project with steeper parking charges. As per the proposal, the first 15 minutes shall be free across 84 parking lots of the city — a move aimed to encourage quick departure of short-stay visitors. Thereon, four-wheelers will be charged ₹20 for up to four hours of parking — a sharp increase from the existing ₹14 — while two-wheelers will pay ₹10 instead of ₹7. A special rate of ₹85 for the first four hours has been proposed for the parking lots near Elante Mall, Fun Republic and Piccadily Square, making parking there most expensive in the city. MC will also deliberate on its proposal of adopting a new Fire Safety Act, making fire safety clearance mandatory for buildings with a height of 9 metres or above. MC is also proposing to hire a public sector firm to manage the city's horticulture waste. Meanwhile, the Congress councillors plan to corner the BJP-led MC over the sharp hike in property tax. 'Demanding a complete roll-back of the property tax imposed by the Chandigarh administration in collaboration with the BJP, Congress councillors will voice their protest strongly and unequivocally during the House meeting. Although the tax was partially reduced following public backlash, the Congress party maintains that the revision is inadequate and does not serve the interests of the general public,' said city Congress president HS Lucky.
Hindustan Times
27-04-2025
- Automotive
- Hindustan Times
Now, parking fee hike to hit wallets in Chandigarh
Still suffering the jolt of property and collector rate hikes, Chandigarh residents may soon feel another pinch in their wallets — this time due to increased parking charges. Barely a month after the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) scrapped its long-pending Smart Parking Project, the civic body is back with a fresh proposal — complete with steeper parking charges and a push to revive the plan through a public-private partnership (PPP) model. The agenda, which will be tabled for discussion in the upcoming MC General House meeting on April 30, also introduces new mechanisms to gather vehicle-stay data through integrated POS machines, with software support proposed from the Society for Promotion of IT in Chandigarh (SPIC). According to the proposal, an MC committee had recently finalised the groundwork for preparing a new request for proposal (RFP) for the smart parking solution. Officials stated that several critical features were discussed for the revamped project — revenue-sharing illustrations, data protection mechanisms, GST and stamp duty inclusion, and, crucially, a revised parking fee structure. As per the new parking rates proposal, the first 15 minutes shall be free across 84 parking lots of the city — a moved aimed to encourage quick departure of short-stay visitors. This will facilitate faster circulation of vehicles and optimum utilisation of parking space. Thereon, four-wheelers will be charged ₹20 for up to four hours of parking — a sharp increase from the existing ₹14 — while two-wheelers will pay ₹10 instead of ₹7. A special rate of ₹85 for the first four hours has been proposed for the parking lots near Elante Mall, Fun Republic and Piccadily Square, making parking there most expensive in the city (see chart below). Meanwhile, electric vehicles (both two-wheelers and four-wheelers) have been promised free parking — until March 31, 2027. Post that, they too will be subjected to prevailing parking fees. For optimal utilisation of parking space, parking in underground facilities has been incentivised by charging ₹5 less than the surface parking rates, across all slabs. Also, to encourage the use of digital payments, MC will charge ₹5 extra in case of cash payments. Interestingly, the new parking rates will apply uniformly across the city — irrespective of whether the parking lots are operated directly by the MC or leased out to private contractors via e-tendering. Smart Parking project was shelved last month Originally conceived in August 2022, the Smart Parking project aimed to introduce a FASTag-enabled parking system across all parking lots in Chandigarh. In July 2023, MC House had decided on new rates under the Smart Parking project, which would be implemented only after the project's roll-out. MC had planned a marginal fee hike for tricity cars but decided to double the fee for out-of-tricity vehicles. The then Punjab governor and UT administrator, Banwarilal Purohit, had rejected the proposal to double parking fees for outside vehicles, but approved the hiked rates. But after years of delay, the much-anticipated Smart Parking project was rejected by the House last month, citing flawed tender conditions, and councillors had called for a fresh blueprint with revised rates and conditions. MC had said the rates proposed in the old project proposal, when combined with GST, result in impractical amounts, making payments inconvenient for residents. In the new proposal now, MC has rounded the figures off for easier transactions.
