Hyderabad: Infosys fined Rs 50,000 for collecting parking fee from staff

Hyderabad: The Pocharam branch of Infosys on the outskirts of Hyderabad was slapped with a fine of Rs 50,000 and served with a show-cause notice by the Pocharam municipality on Wednesday for allegedly collecting parking fee from its employees.

According to municipal bye-laws, parking within the office premises is free. However, the company violated the norm and has been charging fee for providing parking facilities to its own employees.

Reacting to a petition filed in the Telangana High Court by a city-based anti-corruption activist and founder of Forum Against Corruption, Vijay Gopal, the municipality took action against the company.

In a letter to the municipality earlier, the company claimed that it was collecting the parking fee to encourage its employees use public transport. However, the municipality quoted a State Government Order (GO) to rationalise and regulate parking fee, which applies to all companies, including the Pocharam branch of Infosys.

The municipal officials asked the company to make the parking free for its employees and added that the company had violated relevant sections of the Telangana State Apartment Act, 1987 and Telangana State Municipal Act, 2019 which read that promoters or the owners of the apartment shall not sell or lease out or misuse any common areas and facilities.