Over 45 shopping malls to provide free parking at MG Road, Sohna Road

Over 45 commercial establishments situated at MG Road and Sohna Road will now provide free parking to the vehicles in its basements.

The plan to provide free parking was in consideration for a long time after Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) had waived off the property taxes for the basements and ground floors of the commercial establishments in March this year.

Popular shopping malls that will provide free parking are City Court, JMD Empire Square, Grand Mall, MGF Mall in MG Road and JMD Galleria, Ninex ITech and ILD Trade Centre in Sohna Road.

Taking cognisance of the shortage of parking spaces and vehicles being wrongly parked, officials at MCG stated that the move of providing free parking that will help in tackling this major challenge.

To make sure that the shopping establishments provide free parking and do not charge its customers, officials from Gurugram police will also be a part of the entire process.

The official also expressed hope that the move will also reduce the problem of traffic jams during the rush hour since wrongly parked vehicles are one of the main reasons behind the blockade.

"We have provided impetus to the shopping malls by not levying property tax on the basements as there are no commercial operations in this basement. The moment we observe that malls are charging customers, they will be liable for paying the property tax," said Sudhir Chauhan, Senior Town Planner, MCG.

"It's an excellent initiative by MCG to direct malls for allowing free parking in its basement. Shortage of parking spaces has resulted in the creation of parking mafia. As they charge exorbitant fees most of the commuters refrain from parking their vehicles. The authorities will now have to ensure that most of the malls comply with the directives," said Rajan Bhargava, a city resident.