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New parking ticket racket in Colombo

19 Oct 2022

BY Buddhika Samaraweera Against the backdrop of reports of various unauthorised persons impersonating parking wardens in order to collect money from people who park their vehicles near main roads in Colombo, the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) has temporarily suspended the charging of parking fees at several locations in Colombo, and has requested citizens to pay their parking fees only to authorised wardens in other locations. When contacted by The Morning, an official from the CMC Commissioner’s Office said that a tender process is required to be followed in order to authorise a person or an organisation as parking operators, who are then responsible for collecting parking fees. As the relevant tenders are yet to be awarded with regard to several locations, he said that the CMC has suspended the charging of parking fees in such locations.  Accordingly, the charging of parking fees on several city roads such as Galle Road and Duplication Road, and all connecting roads between Alfred Place and the Wellawatte city limits, Malay Street, Jawatta Road, the Dematagoda Supermarket, Armour Street-Nawam Mawatha, D.S. Fonseka Mawatha, Muthiah Street, Andival Street, Magazine Road, Temple Road near Ananda College, Jayantha Weerasekara Mawatha, Lower Chatham Road, Mohamed Zain Mawatha, First Cross Street, Kew Road, Dawson Street, Mudalige Mawatha, and Cristi Perera Mawatha within the CMC limits has been suspended until further notice. Therefore, noting several incidents reported in the recent past of unauthorised persons collecting parking fees at such locations, the CMC official requested citizens to refrain from paying parking fees at these locations until further notice. He also said that parking fees should only be paid to parking wardens of authorised operators at other parking locations that come under the CMC. He said that at nearly all parking locations under the CMC, details of the persons or organisations authorised to collect parking fees are mentioned on signboards at the relevant locations. As there have also been incidents of certain unauthorised persons coercing people into paying parking fees, the CMC official requested any person who comes across such incidents to report them to the nearest police station, as well as to the CMC through the telephone number 0112689529.  


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