Mangaluru : The Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) has fined the parking contractor for violating contract conditions and fleecing the public who drop off and pick up passengers from Airport.

It is said, the MIA chose to monitor the parking services following several complaints from the public, especially about a parking fee being charged even though vehicles that came to drop or pick up passengers exited the airport premises within seven minutes. The MIA charges Rs 60 for vehicles that don’t exit the premises within seven minutes of entry from the toll gate.

MIA airport director VV Rao said he set up a permanent committee to monitor deficiencies at the airport and suggest changes. On Thursday, a major glitch found was synchronization error of three minutes at the entry and exit clocks which meant that the parking contractor was charging vehicles for staying inside the premises for just four minutes.

The contractor has been heavily fined and warned that his contract would be recommended for cancellation if it occurred again.

Rao said he noticed that personnel appointed to ensure smooth flow of traffic at the drop-off point were creating more gridlocks by allowing vehicles to stop near the turning point which blocked the movement of other vehicles. “This has been rectified, but overall things will start improving within a couple of weeks,” he assured.

“I’ve told the parking contractor to appoint security personnel near the elevator, which gives access from the arrival/departure terminal to the car parking, to ensure that vehicles should not be parked and it marked a no-parking area. I’ll ensure that proper signage will be put up within a few days,” he added.