CHENNAI: Auto spare parts dealers on General Patters Road held a meeting with the city police on Friday to discuss ways to curtail the menace of brokers in the area. In an open meeting with Anna Salai police inspector Murugesan, a day after they staged a demonstration on the issue, the dealers briefed him on how brokers preyed on customers in an unruly manner, affecting their business in other shops in the locality.Madras Motor Parts Dealers Association (MMPDA) vice-president, AK Bharatyaji, said that the association had dealt with issues such as black marketing and counterfeit parts in the past. With the growth in business, many issues did crop up every now and then which need to be addressed, he said. Inspector Murugesan said that the dealers should be ready to identify the shops engaging brokers in the trade. According to Mohansundaram, a shop owner, over 200 brokers split in to groups and assemble at strategic locations to trap customers and lure them with low price quotations. Locations infested by brokers are the Royapettah Clock Tower and HDFC Bank, where at least 30 brokers can be seen on a weekday.The issue has affected both the traders and the customers, said Ajith, an association member. Most of the shop owners had warned the brokers occupying the parking lots illegally without paying a fee to the Corporation collection agent, but were confronted by the brokers, he added.The inspector said that the brokers were able to survive as they worked in tandem with dealers. The shopowners on GP Road should convene a meeting and reach a truce among themselves, he suggested.Based on evidence produced by some shop owners, the police had promised to increase patrolling, said Anwar Basha, traffic inspector. He said that traffic on the entire stretch had increased heavily after a shopping mall was opened there, leading to utter chaos during peak hours on weekdays.The police officials asked the dealers to adhere to single-lane parking and organise goods unloading in such a way that congestion is avoided. Currently, only five metres of carriageway was usable on the road, which is 25 metres wide.The parking lot was allotted by the Corporation for public use but is being used by shop owners and brokers. He said that the dealers should move the vehicles inside the shop or to the nearest empty space and fit the spares without hindering flow of traffic. The dealers' association and police have agreed to install CCTVs in broker-prone areas. Police have issued a helpline number (9445461196) in this regard.
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