ISLAMABAD: The Centaurus Mall management on Thursday has reverted to its old policy of charging bachelors Rs300 in adjustable coupons after being highlighted by Pakistan Today and receiving criticism from social media users.
Earlier, the Centaurus Mall had started charging Rs 500 (non-adjustable and non-refundable) since Eidul Azha from each male as a one-time entry. The management claims that it is to avoid groups of “Pindi Boys” who visit the mall for window shopping and often create hassle.
The recent token money imposed on male individuals is a clear indication that Centaurus has its own methods to determine the level of morality of the citizens wanting to shop or window-shop. The mall does hold reservations over window-shoppers, especially from Rawalpindi, more famously termed as “Pindi Boys”.
Raja Faisal, a resident of F-6, said that every human has a right to visit or shop at a public mall. We already have enough differences within our society and we should not create a new divide by judging an individual’s morality.
“It is good that they charge Rs 500, it should be 1,000, but refundable on shopping so that people who say they want to shop shouldn’t have an issue if they really are visiting there for shopping. And they should charge it from everyone, not just males,” said Urooj Azhar, an Islamabad resident, on Facebook. She added that she had seen families too who were there for nothing good, and women who were stealing wallets and cell phones from bags.
Previously, the mall management had started charging rupees 100, then 200 and then 300 from the male visitors which were adjustable there.
“Earlier, it was also wrong to charge Rs 300, but we paid for a pre-coupon and then adjust it in edibles, shopping, and movies, but this time the management had surprisingly started charging Rs 500, non-adjustable from males, which is a clear gender discrimination,” said Abid Gul, adding that the said mall is behaving like it is the “8th wonder of the world.”
Burj Khalifa in UAE, which consists of 163 floors making it the world’s tallest building, is free to the public.Trafford Park in Manchester, which is so big that it can accommodate 20 football fields, has become a tourist attraction and attracts masses from all over the world for shopping and spending time. One World Trade Centre in the USA having 104 floors, Empire State Building in New York City having 102 floors, and Willis Tower in Chicago having 110 floors are free for commoners.
Junaid Khan, a resident of Dir, Peshawar, on a visit to Islamabad said that he tried to visit the mall on the 3rd day of Eid, and being a student he could not afford the entry ticket so he tried to enter in by requesting a random family to take him inside as their family member. The family was kind enough to take him inside but once he was in there, as he was thanking the family for their favor, security personnel caught him and showed him the exit door in a very humiliating manner.
He was concerned with this action and said that the capital city belongs to whole Pakistan, and the capital should never allow construction of such buildings or landmarks for the public where only specific members of the society are allowed. Furthermore, he said that he was just going inside to have some pictures to show his village-men, which is not a crime. “All are humans and have equal rights, and should be allowed to visit malls,” he added.
Centaurus Mall spokesperson Kashif Butt said that the mall had imposed this entry ticket to discourage window shopping.
He said, “It is a commercial property and the ticket was imposed to ensure a family environment. Once, we banned entry of bachelors and allowed families only, it created a real fuss so this time the management has imposed entry fee which is non-refundable and non-adjustable,” and added that this was only for Eid days.
An official of the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) Building Control Section (BCS) said that earlier they had warned the mall to stop charging people for parking and they stopped. Now, he added, charging Rs 500 from each male is a clear violation of CDA by-laws and the authority should exercise its power and restrict the mall management for this illegal act.
The BCS also highlighted in black and white in the partial completion certificate that the mall management has committed different illegalities, including unauthorised one basement construction, illegal construction of 33 stories against 29 approved, illegal construction of 185 apartments against 160 approved, raised height to 422’-0’ against 390’-0’ approved, unauthorised construction of rooms in southern setback and un-authorised stores towards northern setback.
Besides this, the mall management has also illegally occupied the adjacent plot and has been using it as a car parking.
CDA spokesperson Mazhar Hussain said that the matter would be brought to the knowledge of higher authorities and action would be taken accordingly.
Islamabad Additional Deputy Commissioner-General (ADCG) Captain (retired) Shoaib Ali said that he is assigning Industrial Area Assistant Commissioner Faisal to visit the mall and report to him that under which law they are collecting the ticket money of Rs 500 as non-refundable and non-adjustable. “This is unbearable and after getting it in the knowledge of chief commissioner, action would be taken against the mall management,” he added.
Meanwhile, the management of the mall had to say that they took this step to ensure the comfort of their customers.
