Tourists visiting Calangute were allegedly charged ₹1,000 to park a 35-seater bus for four hours at a Goa tourism department facility, despite notified rates of ₹200 for buses and larger vehicles and ₹40 for small vehicles. A video of the incident, filmed by a local taxi driver, circulated widely on Sunday and showed a parking attendant acknowledging the demand.
The parking facility at the football ground is owned by the tourism department and is operated by contractor KCIC under a parking collection contract awarded through a tendering process, according to the report. A board at the site states that the property belongs to the state tourism department and identifies KCIC as the parking manager.
In the video, a tourist from Nagpur said he had arrived with a 35-seater bus and was asked to pay ₹1,000 for parking for up to four hours. He said the group told the attendant that ₹500 would still be high but possibly reasonable, while ₹1,000 was unacceptable. According to the tourist, the attendant told them to remove the vehicle if they could not pay the amount.
The tourist said he eventually paid the demanded amount but was not given a receipt. He also said he learned about the notified parking rate only after checking with tourist taxi drivers in the area. “We are Indian citizens and we are in India. This is not right,” he said in the video, while appealing to the Goa government to prevent tourists from being charged arbitrary amounts when they need parking.
The taxi driver who recorded the video alleged that the rate information displayed at the parking booth had been tampered with. He claimed that mud had been used to wipe out the notified rates, making it difficult for visitors to verify the official charges before paying. The attendant shown in the video accepted that the tourist had been charged ₹1,000.
Taxi drivers also shared receipts that they said were issued to other tourists on Sunday for parking buses at the same rate. They alleged that attendants charge different amounts depending on the size of the crowd because visitors cannot clearly see the approved tariff. These claims are based on the video, statements by the tourist and taxi drivers, and the receipts shown in the report.
The reported gap between the notified rate and the amount allegedly collected highlights the importance of visible tariffs, mandatory receipts and direct oversight at public tourism facilities. In this case, the notified rate for a bus or larger vehicle was ₹200 for up to four hours, meaning the reported demand was five times that amount. The report did not include a response from the tourism department or KCIC to the allegations.
The parking facility’s contracting process has faced allegations of irregularities in the past, according to the report. Any administrative action, including an inspection of the rate board, verification of receipts and review of the contractor’s compliance with tender conditions, would depend on the tourism department’s response and further examination of the incident.
