Irate passengers picked up a row at the Nagole Metro terminal station parking area on Wednesday as L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH) decided to once again collect parking fees for two-wheelers and four-wheelers, which were waived off during the COVID period.
Commuters were in for a shock when they were asked to pay for parking their vehicles there. The arguments escalated to the station level as the staff were questioned about the ‘sudden’ parking fee collection without any prior announcement.
“It is government land. How can they charge ₹40 (₹10 to ₹40 for bikes; and ₹30 to ₹120 for cars) all of a sudden? The area becomes slushy during rains. There is no place to even stand during peak hours. This is outright fleecing,” a rider charged shouting slogans against L&T MRH.
Alerted by the development, top L&TMRH officials took up damage control measures and ordered an immediate reimbursement of the collected parking fees. Soon, it was announced that parking fee at both the terminal stations will be collected from August 25 onwards at Nagole and from September 1 onwards at Miyapur.
An official release said, “As part of pilot run, to test the functioning and efficiency of various systems, a trial was conducted at Nagole parking facility. Inconvenience thus caused to our passengers is regretted”. It also stated that collecting fees will ensure “organised parking for bikes and cars, improved amenities like bio-toilets, round-the-clock security, better lights and app-based payment options”.
