The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will conduct e-auctions for 14 major road stretches with 482 parking slots, moving away from traditional tenders for the first time.
Parking contracts were historically affected by cash-only payments, overcharging, and tender manipulation—including a 2012 sabotage incident when a tender box was broken.
KMC’s tender process in January 2023 had to be scrapped after manual tender submissions violated state rules, leading to cancellation of all bids by March.
Through the government e-auction portal, bids will be transparent:
Only one bidder required to proceed.
Competitor prices visible, but not identities.
Base price set by KMC; below-threshold bids will be cancelled.
The transparent bidding process is expected to attract reputed parking agencies from other cities, improving efficiency and accountability in Kolkata.
Official rate: ₹10/hour.
Actual charges: ₹20–₹100/hour, higher on weekends.
Lack of receipts and POS machine failure has allowed attendants to exploit motorists.
The e-auction will cover high-demand city zones such as:
Chowringhee (JL Nehru) Road
Garcha Road
Hindustan Park & Dover Lane
Ramani Chatterjee Road
EM Bypass service roads
Parking under Gariahat Flyover
A recent 16-cottah land e-auction near Science City fetched ₹12.7 crore, strengthening KMC’s trust in the digital auction system.
With digital receipts, fair fee collection, and elimination of cash-only malpractice, KMC aims to transform Kolkata’s parking system while boosting civic revenue.