Officials of the transport department have issued guidelines making it mandatory for heavy goods vehicles to fix GPS.

“The Regional Transport Offices (RTO) was instructed to ensure that goods vehicles comply with the order of fixing tracking devices. Hence the RTO’s refuse to issue fitness certificate (FC) if the vehicles do not have GPS. The lorry transport sector, which has already been reeling under severe loss due to the impact of COVID-19, is currently not in a position to bear additional cost incurred in fixing the tracking system,” said Sella Rasamani, president of Tamil Nadu Motor Transport Federation (TNMTF) to reporters.

Urging the intervention of the Chief Minister to cancel the order for fixing GPS devices as it has been causing financial strain to lorry owners, Rasamani said that they otherwise are prepared to even hand over their vehicles to the government.

The lorry owners also expressed their reservations against continuous hike in fuel prices and state government’s denial to exempt quarterly tax. “How could we pay tax during the months of lockdown, when there were no operations. Some relaxation should be given,” he added.