You buy something at a mall, return to your vehicle, and the parking slip carries a charge. Is that charge lawful? The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Chennai (North), President D. Gopinath, answered no on the facts before it. This explains why.
What happened
A customer parked a two-wheeler at a mall in Chennai for nearly two hours on 26 April 2023 and was charged ₹80. He complained to the consumer forum. The ruling was reported on 1 April 2025.
Why the forum held the fee illegal
The reports of the order record three connected reasons.
1. No legal basis for the charge. The forum treated parking as an essential facility tied to the shopping experience. It held that a charge for it cannot be justified unless the law explicitly permits it. The mall’s answer, set out below, was only that the rules do not say parking must be free.
2. The charge was not clearly communicated. The forum found the fee was not clearly communicated to the customer. A charge for a facility a shopper needs, with no clear notice, is hard to call a fair term of dealing.
3. The building rules already require the mall to provide parking. The mall argued that the Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules, 2019 require “adequate” parking but do not say it must be free. The forum, as reported, did not accept that this lets the mall charge. The forum’s point, as reported, is that customers should not pay for facilities that building compliance norms require the mall to provide.
The law behind “unfair trade practice”
Section 2(47) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 defines an unfair trade practice as a trade practice that, for promoting the sale, use or supply of goods or the provision of any service, adopts any unfair method or unfair or deceptive practice. The definition is wide. It is not limited to false advertising or defective goods.
The reports do not name the sub-clause the forum applied. The finding fits the general definition: a service provider charged for a facility it was bound to provide, with no legal authority and without clear notice. That is the “unfair method” the forum found.
What the forum directed
- Stop charging for parking with immediate effect.
- Refund the ₹80.
- Pay ₹10,000 for mental agony.
- Pay ₹2,000 as litigation costs.
A similar reading elsewhere
On 10 July 2019 a Division Bench of the Gujarat High Court (LPA No. 1412 of 2018) held that malls and multiplexes must provide parking to customers without a fee. As reported, it read the word “provide” in the State’s building regulations as “make available for use without charge”. It noted that owners get an exclusion of parking area from floor space index for providing parking, and that this benefit must reach the public. The mall owners took the matter to the Supreme Court.
The two rulings come from different bodies under different rules. They reach the same place by the same idea: parking that building rules require a mall to provide is not a separate service to be sold.
What this order does not decide
- It is the finding of one district forum, which binds only the parties. Other forums may take a different view.
- It rests on Tamil Nadu’s building rules and the facts of one complaint. Whether a parking fee is lawful in your city depends on the building rules, the mall’s permissions and the local body’s terms.
- It does not say that every parking charge in every setting is unlawful.
FAQ
Is a parking fee at a mall illegal? One consumer forum held a mall’s fee an unfair trade practice on its facts and the rules before it. That is not a rule for every mall in India.
What is an “unfair trade practice”? Section 2(47) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 defines it as an unfair method or unfair or deceptive practice used in promoting the sale, use or supply of goods or the provision of any service.
Why did the forum say the mall could not charge? As reported: no law permitted the charge, it was not clearly communicated, and building norms already required the mall to provide parking.
Does the order apply in Rajasthan? A district forum’s order does not bind other forums. Local building bye-laws and the mall’s permissions decide the question.
What can a consumer do if charged? Keep the parking slip and receipt. A consumer who believes a charge is unfair may approach the consumer commission with these documents. The result depends on the facts and the rules that apply.
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This is general legal awareness, not legal advice. Legal outcomes depend on facts, documents, law, forum, evidence, limitation and judicial discretion — no outcome is guaranteed. Consult a qualified advocate on your own facts.
Adv. Prakhar Gupta — enrolled with the Bar Council of Rajasthan, Enrolment No. R/2196/2020. This page shares legal awareness/education only; it is not advertisement or solicitation of work.
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