>> Hanoi parking lots break the law by overcharging
>> Hanoi parking lots take people to the cleaners
Hanoi police has detected parking fee violations at nearly 20 parking lots since September 2.
Fees are often several times higher than legally allowed rates
Among those, many have not yet submitted their operation license to the police and a number have collected parking fees ten times higher than the regulated levels.
An inter-disciplinary inspection team faced strong resistance from owner of a parking lot managed by the Mien Bac Ltd. Co. at Ba Trieu Street. He refused to pay the VND30 million (USD1,442) fine. To escape the confrontation, the owner and his staff left hundreds of vehicles unprotected.
Under the city’s current regulations, parking lots will be fined VND30 million for the first two violations and if found to have violated for the third time, their operation licenses will be revoked.
The team at another lot caught staff collecting a fee VND5,000 (USD0.24) per motorbike, higher than their permitted level. A staff member explained that, “The ticket includes fees for minding our customers’ belongings. If we didn’t charge these rates, we’d have to close our business.”
At 11pm on September 4, the team rushed a parking lot on Dang Van Ngu Street, where hundreds of square metres of pavement were used for keeping cars.
Checking there papers, the inspection discovered nearly all cars had been charged much higher fees than the regulated levels. Some cars were forced to pay VND60,000 (USD2.9) per day.
A parking lot in Hao Nam Street which often would obstruct the road had increased its car parking lot to over 1,500 square metres.
On holiday and festival occasions, a large number of illegal parking lots at entertainment areas in Hanoi have sprung up, but most of them are unlicensed.
A parking lot inside Voi Phuc Temple’s gate charged VND10,000 (USD0.48) per motorbike, five times higher than city’s regulated levels and the one at No. 39 on Thai Phien Street collected VND20,000 each motorbike.
Nightclubs and bars which look after large numbers of motorbikes every day seriously lack parking lots, leading to businesses illegally occupying the road. VooDoo at 15 Dao Duy Tu uses 64 square metres of the street to keep vehicles.
Earlier, the city’s inspection force issued 81 fines, bringing in VND1.45 billion (USD69,711).
The lawn at Hao Nam Street is used as the parking lot
Hanoi police tackling illegal parking lots
