Parking fee abuse!

(Baonghean) - The situation of parking facilities competing to charge higher fees than the provincial People's Committee's regulations for a long time has made people angry. Meanwhile, the authorities have not yet had a thorough solution to prevent and correct this situation...

People's cars are submerged in water. (Photo taken at the Provincial General Hospital parking lot at 11:00 a.m. on September 22, 2014).

To unify the parking fee for all types of vehicles in the province, on September 4, 2009, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 84/2009/QD-UBND "On the regulations on subjects, collection rates, collection and payment of parking fees for bicycles, motorbikes and cars in Nghe An province". Accordingly, the Provincial People's Committee stipulates that the daytime parking time is from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. the same day, and the night time is from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. the following day. The daytime parking fee is calculated as follows: Bicycles are 1,000 VND (in Vinh City and towns, lowland plains), 500 VND (in highland districts); motorbikes and two-wheeled motorbikes are 2,000 VND (in Vinh City and towns, lowland plains), 1,000 VND (in highland districts). Nighttime parking fee: Bicycles are 2,000 VND (in Vinh City and towns, lowland plains), 1,000 VND (in highland districts); motorbikes, 2-wheeled motorbikes are 4,000 VND (in Vinh City and towns, lowland plains), 2,000 VND (in highland districts). At collecting units such as provincial and district hospitals, parking fees for each type of vehicle are applied separately. During the day, the parking fee for bicycles and rudimentary vehicles is 500 VND and for motorbikes is 1,000 VND; at night, bicycles and rudimentary vehicles are 1,000 VND and for motorbikes is 2,000 VND.

However, the reality is that for a long time now, the collection of fees at these facilities has been very arbitrary, each place has its own way of collecting fees, not following the regulations of the Provincial People's Committee. From hospitals, schools, playgrounds, parks to apartment buildings... people are being "pickpocketed" every day by tricks to make illegal profits. On the morning of September 15, when we entered the parking lot of Vinh City General Hospital, when we handed over a 10,000 VND note, the parking attendant returned 7,000 VND. When asked why they collected 3,000 VND/time while the Provincial People's Committee only stipulated to collect 2,000 VND/time, the parking attendant silently returned 1,000 VND to the customer. For customers who do not know or silently let it go, the parking attendant freely collects 3,000 VND/time. Most of the people who park their vehicles at the hospitals are in difficult circumstances. The fact that the Provincial People's Committee issued a parking fee at hospitals lower than the general price shows humanity and shares the difficulties with the people. Mr. Tran Van Tuan, from Hung Chau commune (Hung Nguyen), whose family member has been hospitalized for more than 2 weeks, complained: "Every day, I have to park my car at the hospital more than 10 times, which means I spend 30,000 VND per day on parking. Patients who go to the hospital hope to save as much as possible, but even parking is so expensive, it's really...".

Not only hospitals but also other parking facilities are competing to charge more than the price set by the Provincial People's Committee. On the morning of September 15, we parked our motorbikes in the basement of Vinh Market. Right at the entrance, there was a sign with specific parking prices: Bicycles and rudimentary vehicles are 1,000 VND; motorbikes are 2,000 VND. However, when paying, the parking attendant charged customers 3,000 VND/time. When asked why the fee was higher than the regulation issued by the Provincial People's Committee, the parking attendant calmly said, "It's the same everywhere." At Ho Chi Minh Square, on the afternoon of September 15, we parked our motorbikes. The parking ticket clearly stated 2,000 VND/time, but the parking attendant still charged customers 3,000 VND. When we questioned, the parking attendant explained that it was an old ticket, the price had now increased to 3,000 VND but new tickets had not been printed yet. Continue to park at Doi Cung apartment building in Doi Cung ward. The parking staff gives a self-made ticket with only a number and collects 3,000 VND/trip from the customer and the parking attendant said that this price has been around for a long time. In the past, it was collected from the household owner, but in recent years, it has been collected directly from the customer.

Through a survey at state and private vehicle parking lots, most units do not post the fee rates, leave them in hidden places, or post them but the fee rate is ".000 VND". Meanwhile, Circular 63/2002/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance clearly stipulates: "Organizations and individuals collecting fees and charges must post or publicly announce at the fee and charge collection locations in convenient locations for fee payers to easily recognize". The situation of collecting fees dozens of times higher than the prescribed level, especially during holidays and Tet; or other "tricks" such as: not issuing tickets, issuing self-made tickets, writing the vehicle number over the price, accepting to keep motorbikes but giving bicycle tickets; or publicly giving tickets with low denominations to collect high prices... is common at bicycle and motorbike parking lots in the city today.

Mr. Hoang Minh Quan, Head of the Price and Public Asset Management Department (Department of Finance), said: The situation of parking facilities charging higher fees than the regulations of the Provincial People's Committee has been going on for a long time but there has been no radical solution. Although the authorities have organized a number of inspection teams, it is very difficult to detect and handle these facilities. When the inspection team leaves, they charge higher fees. In particular, it is even more difficult to manage parking facilities owned by the private sector or under contract with private sector.

The reason for this situation is that localities and functional sectors are lax in management, lack of inspection and supervision; administrative handling is not worth much compared to the profit from collecting more than the prescribed amount. In addition, the decentralization of management of parking lots is still overlapping, many sectors manage together and the result is still "multi-sector" responsibility. Therefore, in the coming time, functional agencies need to strengthen inspection and supervision and when detecting, there must be appropriate handling. In addition, propaganda and guidance work for facilities to properly implement State regulations on collecting parking fees to ensure fairness and responsibility.

On September 18, 2014, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 61/2014/QD-UBND regulating the collection rates and management regime for bicycle, motorbike and car parking fees in the province. Accordingly, the specific collection rates are as follows: a) Parking fees at parking lots and public vehicle parking lots invested by the State (except for parking facilities at hospitals and schools): Unit: 1,000 VND/turn b) Parking fees at hospitals and schools: Unit: 1,000 VND/turn

Pham Bang