Collection of parking fee in malls is a common practice all across country. While hearing one such plea related to parking fee, Kerala High Court recently said that collection of parking fee by malls was not appropriate. The court had received several pleas against collection of Parking fees by Lulu International shopping malls in Kerala. The plea alleged that collection of parking fee by mall was illegal. Justice P. V. Kunhikrishnan asked Kalamassery Municipality for their opinion of this matter and the plea would be taken up after two weeks.
The court asked, “As per the Building Rules, parking space is a part of the building, and a building permit is issued on the condition that there will be a parking space. Based on this undertaking a building is constructed. After construction, whether the owner can collect a parking fee is the question. Prima face, I am of the opinion that it is not possible. This Court wants to know the stand of the Municipality on this issue.”
The petitioner had alleged that Lulu mall was collecting parking fees without any authority. To this senior advocate S Sreekumar, who appeared for the respondents submitted a license that was given under the Section 447 of Kerala Municipality Act. The lawyer also submitted decisions of High Court that support the respondents position. After hearing both sides, Kerala High Court directed the Municipality to file a statement to mention their stand on parking fee collected by mall for a parking space mandatory under building rules. The matter will be taken up by the court of 28 January 2022.
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The first petition was moved by Bosco Louis who is a social worker. He had appeared in the case as person and another petition was filed by a film maker named Pauly Vadakkan. The film maker moved a petition after he was charged Rs 20 as parking fee when he visited the mall on December 2, 2021. The director has alleged that the mall staff closed exit gates and threatened him when he initially refused to pay the parking fee.
His plea also mentioned that the collection of parking fee was a open violation of the Kerala Municipality Act and Kerala Municipality Building Rules 1994. The plea said as per the rule, mall is a commercial complex and the place earmarked in the approved building plan for parking cannot be converted into a pay and park facility.
Meanwhile, court has not put any stay on Lulu International shopping mall for collecting parking fees. The court has clarified that the mall can continue to do so at their own risk. This is not the first time an issue like this has surfaced. In 2019, Gujarat High Court had ruled that malls and multiplexes should not collect parking fees as they are under statutory obligation to provide vehicle parking space. Karnataka High Court also heard such plea seeking free car spaces in malls and multiplexes last year and refused to entertain it. The court said, “Somebody incurs a cost for maintaining the parking space at a cinema hall. How can it be free?”
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Via: Livelaw.in
The post Malls can’t collect parking fee from cars: High Court first appeared on Cartoq.
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