Fines and penalties have affected the food delivery boys in Bengaluru very badly. And it is all because of inadequate parking facility in the city. These boys who travel across the city to deliver foods have to reach distant locations many times that do not have separate parking facility available.
In such conditions, these boys are left with no alternative but to park wherever they find enough space. Sadly, with the traffic rules in the city getting more stringent many times their vehicles are towed away and these boys end up spending a major chunk of their earnings for paying fines.
The worst part is that many times their vehicle is towed multiple times on the same day affecting their earnings very badly.
Vehicles Towed Away Without Any Warnings
These boys earn their livelihood by delivering food at the doorsteps of the customers and when they are inside the premises doing their job, their vehicles are towed away without even a single warning.
These delivery boys either collect or delivery the orders and for that, they have to park their two-wheelers for minimum 2 to 3 minutes. Many times they are forced to park at undesignated spots but they do so only when they have no other option.
Surprisingly, the vehicles disappear within a few seconds without any announcements and then these boys have to pay through their nose to relieve their two-wheelers. One of the boys said that a couple of years ago, then police commissioner Praveen Sood said that announcements will be made on microphones and police will wait five minutes after that before towing the two-wheelers.
Why Don’t Bengaluru Traffic Police Follow Global Practice?
It is a global practice to make an announcement prior to towing away vehicles. Mumbai Police has said that it will be following the same practice. It seems Bengaluru City traffic police can do a lot good by taking a cue from them instead of continuing with the tow-away spree that it is currently doing.
A food delivery executive, James Stephen said that once his vehicle was towed three times in one day and he had to pay a fine of Rs.750 each time. Stephen further added, “We park our bikes in front of the hotels to collect the order and come, but by then cops tow away our bikes. We hardly make Rs 30 from one delivery and this is again used to pay fines.”
Another food delivery executive, Syed Alaam said that at times the towing vehicles are not accompanied by a police officer which somehow makes the entire operation look suspicious and illegal. Alaam adds, “The towing vehicle staffers often damage our vehicles. In case we try to argue with them, they start charging us an exorbitant price.”
So, a lot is at stake for the food delivery boys in Bengaluru and it is high time that the city’s traffic police follow the global practice of making an announcement prior to towing away the two-wheelers.
