Parking fee collected at airport double the tariff

CHENNAI: Passenger woes at the Chennai airport are never-ending it seems! Now the complaint is that the parking fee that’s collected is more than the tariff.

Vehicles going into the airport for picking up passengers are charged Rs 150 for 20 minutes (instead of Rs 75) and Rs 225 for 30 min.

The Multi Level Car Parking (MLCP) was constructed in the airport at Rs 2,500 crore with 6 floors at 2.5 lakh square feet and was inaugurated in December 2022. It’s capable of handling over 2,000 cars and 700 bikes at the same time.

However, after the inauguration, there was a lot of confusion among passengers since there were no proper guides to direct them to the parking area. This resulted in traffic chaos with long waiting time.

The AAI had announced that vehicles coming into the airport for pick-up were allowed to stay for free for the first 10 minutes. After that, Rs 75 will be charged for up to 30 minutes, and Rs 150 for over 30 minutes. However, it was impossible to enter and exit the airport within 10 minutes. So all vehicles had to pay Rs 75 parking fee at the exit of the airport. The fee was automatically deducted at the counters through Fastag.

Recently, passengers noticed that parking fee that was being collected at the airport was more than the tariff. Many passengers had complained that Rs 150 was deducted from their account even if they returned within 30 minutes. If the vehicle returned after 30 minutes, Rs 225 was debited from the account.

John Abishek, a regular traveller said, “We come to know about the extra charges only after receiving a text message. By then, it’s too late to go back and ask officials about it. I’m not the only one facing this problem.”

Passengers said that if a tariff was prepared, it should be followed strictly, and that any over-charge was unacceptable without prior information. Many passengers noticed that they were double-charged and were shocked when they saw the message. They rued that since charges were collected automatically, they were unable to do anything.

Airport director CV Deepak told DT Next said that he heard many complaints about the extra parking charges being debited. “We’ve told the private firm not to collect any extra charges from passengers and have also received a written statement from them. Hereafter, passengers will not face such issues in the airport,” he clarified.

Arul Kumar, a cab driver in Chennai, said: “It’s not just the Chennai airport where we face this issue of overcharging. Even the toll gates in Pallikonda and Sriperumbur have become a nightmare for motorists. Overcharging through Fastag is a common problem. We have to send a mail seeking refund of extra amount debited.”