Hyderabad Police books ION Digital Zone for illegal parking fees

Alwal ION Digital Zone defies government order to profit off helpless students who came to the attend an exam

Hyderabad: Alwal police booked a case against TCS-ION Digital Zone, Alwal for collecting parking fees from candidates who had attended an online examination at the digital centre on December 27. Police booked the case following a complaint by Galibe Vishal, one of the candidates who had participated in the exam.

On December 24, Mr Vishal had an exam to attend at TCS ION Digital Zone in Alwal. The ION Digital Zone was the centre for the Telangana Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan online exam, which several candidates had participated on Tuesday. However, the authorities at ION digital zone collecting the parking fees had left the candidates in a fix.

Many of the candidates alleged that the exam centre had collected Rs 10 for two-wheelers and Rs 20 for four-wheelers as parking fees. Speaking to NewsMeter, Galibe Vishal said, “As some raised their voice on the parking issue, they were asked by authorities to park their vehicles on the opposite side. However, no security was guaranteed if they parked their vehicles there. Therefore, out of helplessness, many parked their vehicles and paid the fee. Moreover, they issued no token for the parking fees.”

The candidate also said that the examination centre had collected fees for keeping candidates’ mobile phones in their locker. “For this, they charged Rs 20 and gave a token,” he added.

Police have booked a case under Section 188 (Disobedience to order by public servant), 418 (cheating), 420 (dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 34 (common intention) of IPC.

Talking on the issue of illegal parking fees in the city, Sai Teja from Forum Against Corruption (FAC) had his take on it. “In this case, students have come to write the exams, so it is up to the authorities to provide parking facility without collecting a fee. As per Government Order No 63, which is about parking policies, this is illegal. We have also filed three complaints in the city this year for illegal parking.”