Mail News Service
Jamshedpur: The Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) is reportedly incurring losses worth crores of rupees due to irregularities in parking fee collection. Without proper tender allotments, parking fees are being collected directly by JNAC officials, with significant discrepancies between daily collections and the amounts credited to the official account.
According to sources, around Rs 1–1.5 lakh is collected daily from six parking lots in Sakchi and Bistupur, but only a fraction of this is deposited. The situation persists because tenders for these parking spaces have not been finalized for over two years due to a lack of interest from contractors.
Failed tender attempts
JNAC issued a tender on December 19, 2024, for allotment of three parking spaces each in Sakchi and Bistupur. However, no contractor purchased the tender forms before the December 28 deadline, leading to the cancellation of the tender process. Similar attempts in April last year also failed despite receiving bids from five agencies, as the tenders were ultimately cancelled.
Sub-Urban Commissioner Krishna Kumar commented, “The department is compelled to collect parking fees directly to prevent complete revenue loss when contractors fail to show interest. We plan to send a proposal to the Urban Development Department to revise the tender terms to make them more appealing.”
Syndicate issues and losses
JNAC officials suspect a deliberate lack of interest from contractors. “A syndicate among contracting agencies seems to be at play,” said an official. “While there’s fierce competition for other tenders, parking contracts receive no bids, indicating a strategic boycott to manipulate the terms.”
Parking fees set by JNAC are significant, with minimum bids fixed at Rs 89.5 lakh for Parking Area 6 in Bistupur, Rs 85.1 lakh for Area 3 in Sakchi and smaller amounts for other zones. However, collections fall far short of these figures, exacerbating losses.
Strategy to resolve
With the ongoing issues, JNAC has resolved to revise the tender process. The price of tender forms, currently set between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000, may also be reviewed to attract more participation.
The situation highlights the need for immediate reform in parking fee management to ensure transparency and prevent further revenue loss for the city. (w/nkm)
