Are You Buying A Car Before Buying A Home? You May like To Reconsider

Over a year ago, the Bombay High Court, while reacting on the extreme rise of illegal parking in Mumbai, said: "These days every family has two cars. This should be restricted to just one car per family. Unauthorised parking due to lack of space is a very serious problem in Mumbai, and is the cause of much traffic congestion. A large number of private vehicles enter the city every morning and leave in the evening, but they have no space for parking through the day.”

A year on, nothing much seem to have changed, prompting the high court to make similar observations.

"Does the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) have any data on how many residents or families own more than one car? Lakhs of new vehicles are registered every day in the city. This can't be permitted to continue," it said.

Earlier, the HC had cautioned the civic body that Mumbai would soon run out of open space if the burgeoning number of private vehicles rises.

"A person who can't afford to buy a car can't even walk on the sidewalk because there are vehicles parked illegally. You (the state) are snatching his right by indiscriminately allowing so many vehicles on the road and permitting their owners to park illegally," the HC said on January 29.

Interestingly, a new parking policy was launched in Delhi on the same day with an aim to curb illegal parking. Under the Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Rules, 2017, parking on footpaths and main roads is banned. Any fluting of this rule would result into vehicles getting towed away and a fine ranging between Rs 200 to Rs 2,000.

In Mumbai, one has to pay an average $1.11 for car parking while parking charges in Delhi are $1.32. Despite the fact that parking charges are astonishing low in Indian cities in comparison with their global peers, illegal parking across cities is a common problem.

While slamming authorities for allowing the menace to continue, the Bombay HC also asked the state transport department if it was possible to impose a condition that only those producing proof of having access to adequate parking space are allowed to buy vehicles. The state transport department and the BMC have been asked to give their suggestions within two weeks.

With inputs from Housing News