We must try to keep one step ahead of conmen

The pay and park at Chandavarkar Road, Borivli west with a BMC board where Amit Sedani parked his bike and later learnt it was unauthorised

There seems to be no check on the pay-and-park mafia in the city, which has been blatantly operating with fake signboards and even receipts. A report outlined how a biker received an e-challan from the Borivli Traffic Division, after they towed his bike from a pay-and-park facility outside Borivli station, where he had paid charges, and also received a receipt. The biker was later told it was an unauthorised parking lot.

A young man saw a pay-and-park signboard of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) hung on a tree at a spot, complete with rules and parking rates. He was even issued a receipt in the name of Hari Om Enterprises, located at Chandavarkar Cross Road, R/Central Ward, Borivli West. He paid a sum to a person with a receipt book, but by noon, his bike had disappeared. It had been towed by the traffic police. The man with the receipt book had disappeared too. He then learnt at the traffic division that this was no authorised BMC facility.

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The authorities need to crack down on scamsters posing as BMC personnel who up putting up signs. In fact, the BMC and traffic cops need to create awareness about how people can identify a con trick. This has to be well thought out. OTPs or numbers must be put in place so citizens can verify if parking lots are authentic.

Several persons are falling prey to bogus ‘officials' collecting money and even furnishing receipts. Punishments for this criminal impersonation should be stiff too. Criminals are like sharks who see blood, closing in to exploit a weakness when they see an opportunity. With the parking crunch and desperation surrounding it in Mumbai, this seems fertile ground for scams. We need to be one step ahead of the crooks.