SOMETIME BACK a car owned by one PA Nisha, a native of Quilon District, and a resident at Kottayam Rubber Board region, was stolen from the railway parking at Kottayam station the other day. The owner’s husband Anil Kumar parked it in the railway station parking lot in the morning, and went to Quilon, and on his return he was shocked to realise that his car was stolen.

This issue does not seem to have raised any eyebrows because the loss is suffered by one of those hundreds of thousands of rail commuters who depend on railway parking lots to keep their vehicles.

But this issue does raise a few questions and they need to be answered very urgently.

• Who is responsible for the safety of automobiles? Apart from the damages caused by natural calamites or something that is beyond human control, who is supposed to ensure the safety of vehicles?
• If an automobile is not safe in an authorised parking lot contracted by the Indian railways, where is it going to be safe in?
• What is the logic in taking fives and tens and fifteens and even fiftees by way of parking charge for vehicles of different sizes and their expected duration of parking?
• What are the measures these private parking agents provide for the automobile owners?
• Most of these lots are in open spaces and vehicles worth million are left in the open for all rains and sun and dust and related wear and tear. And if they are not safe, what is the legality of taking a fixed fee as parking fee?
• Of course, automobile owners are supposed to keep their valuables under lock and key, and when they are away, it is the job of the parking lot authorities to ensure that no one is meddling with a vehicle or stealing something or stealing the vehicle itself.
• See how far things have gone, and the how unsafe are our vehicles and belongings left in the stations spread across that nation?

This issue needs to be addressed immediately. The rail parking contractors issue a slip at the time of parking which records the registration number, the time and the amount realised, of course in indecipherable handwriting. However, at the bottom of the slip, there will be a fine print which spoils all the claims that such a slip and parking facility an automobile owner may be able to make.

It reads like this: “We are not responsible for any loss or damage to the vehicle, and the parking is at the risk of the owner”. Or something like this will be printed on it.

Is it not illegal, contrary to common sense and against basic business ethics that one takes a certain amount of money as charge for a service, and the service provider is not ready to offer basic minimum service to the customer? What on earth is it that makes these people mint millions out of this business? How can they print a disclaimer as blatant as this one and issue such tickets in broad day light, and at the same time remain mute witness to abroad daylight car-theft?

This is sure a case for Public Interest Litigation, and the fine print at the bottom lines of parking slips need to be made illegal, and so removed outright. And the parking agents need to ensure the safety of the automobile at any cost. And in case of any theft or damages of certain measures need to be compensated by the contractors themselves. People who suffer such cases need to approach either the court or the consumer forum. This is outrageous that a car is stolen from a railway parking. Who is reading this?