A report in this newspaper yesterday highlighted how Colaba is rife with parking touts, which are preying on unsuspecting tourists. Sniffing out their desperation, parking touts descend on them, directing them to a place to park. Then they charge them any rate, sometimes over Rs 200 per hour. The tourist, who may not know this is illegal, pays up because he is simply so relieved to find a parking spot.

It is not just the tourist, even locals are taken advantage of. With scarce parking, they have little option but to acquiesce when a fraudster makes his way to them, and though bargaining ensues, they do pay up eventually. Yesterday's report highlighted how one such tout was nabbed red-handed by the Colaba police.