Rs 85 parking fee at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International airport may become history

The authorities are presently working on a new system which is likely to take away the 10-minute free period, causing inconvenience to the users.

Authorities at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International airport (SVPI) have discontinued the services of outsourced car parking management agency after they received hordes of complaints in connection to the toll-booth.

The authorities are presently working on a new system which is likely to take away the 10-minute free period, causing inconvenience to the users.

Sources at the airport said the plan for charging a nominal fee is being worked out. In the present system, any car that spends more than ten minutes in the terminal bay pays Rs 85. Users and passengers also complain of long queues that forces them to shell out Rs 85, despite returning within the stipulated time.

"We are now working on a system where we may charge Rs 20 or more on every entry, as a normal fee without any cap on the timing. But the details are being worked upon. Until then, the booth will be handled by the Director General Resettlement which has retired defence personnel."

Airport authorities have also registered a police complaint against the present agency handling the booth and in the past, have imposed heavy fines on them for misbehaving with customers.

A statement issued by airport authorities on Saturday stated: With effect from August 24, authorities have discontinued the services of outsourced car parking management agency. As an interim measure, the car park will now be managed temporarily though ex-defence officials under Director General of Resettlement.

The airport has been struggling since the inception of toll-booth. To curb the same, last year, students of HL Commerce college were roped in to monitor and study the toll-booth, its issues and collect data thereby helping the officials with a solution for the issues faced by commuters.