GURUGRAM: As many as 25 lakh trucks in Haryana, including around 2 lakh in the city, will go off roads on February 26 in support of the one day “chakka jam” call by the All India Transporters’ Welfare Association.
The decision to join the protest demanding a change in e-way bill permit system and against the fuel price hike was taken at a meeting of transporters on Tuesday. Truck operators in the state have also said they will submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Modi mentioning their demands.
“In Gurugram, around two lakh trucks, both in and out bound, will be off roads. But we will not disturb transportation of daily essential commodities like milk, medicine, fruits and vegetables,” said a member of a transport operator body.
The Haryana Truck and Transport Association, the Haryana chapter of All India Road Transport Workers Federation and the Gurugram Transporters’ Welfare Association have been protesting against changes in the e-way bill system and rise in fuel prices.
The decision to join the protest demanding a change in the e-way bill permit system and against the fuel price hike was taken at a meeting of transporters on Tuesday. Truck operators in the state have also said they will submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioning their demands.
“In Gurugram, around two lakh trucks will be off roads. But we will not disturb transportation of daily essential commodities like milk, medicine, fruits and vegetables,” said a transporter.
The Haryana Truck and Transport Association, the Haryana chapter of All India Road Transport Workers Federation and the Gurugram Transporters’ Welfare Association have been protesting against changes in the e-way bill system and rise in fuel prices.
According to the latest change introduced in the e-way bill system, single day permit associated with movement of goods is valid for a distance of 100 km, instead of 200 km. The penalty for a truck carrying a consignment with an expired or erronous e-way bill amounts to 200 per cent of the tax value, or 100 per cent of the invoice value under Section 129 of CGST Act, 2017, transporters said.
They added that Since February 10, the price has gone up by Rs 3.65 per litre for petrol while the diesel rate has risen by Rs 3.84 a litre. The petrol and diesel prices that have risen more than 20 times this year itself have been hitting the operators and some might even go out of business if this continues. 24 times in 2021. Transporters alleged that during the pandemic the Central Government increased excise duty by Rs 13 per litre on petrol and by Rs 16 per litre on diesel. The Government of India is generating revenue at the cost of the lives of crores of people.
“For small and medium transporters , especially those involved in part-load movement of goods or retail transportation, complying with the new rule means a higher and costly compliance more burden with penalties running into lakhs of rupees., for circumstantial delays. This may lead to completely shutting their shop,” said Hukum Chand Sharma, chairman, Haryana Truck and Transport Association.
“The government may have taken this step to curb corruption, but it may be checked that majority of the evasion cases are discovered by intelligence and not by interception of trucks,” he said.
“We have been demanding that the government restores duties and taxes on fuel to the same level as of March 1, 2020. In March last year, diesel price was Rs 62.08 per litre. In February 2021, it is Rs 81.89. While transportation charges will definitely rise because of this, there will also be a steep rise in the price of commodities that will end up burdening the common people,” said Pradeep Modi, general secretary, Gurugram Transport Welfare Association.
“Many practical aspects such as weekly off, bank holidays, weather conditions, etc. are not considered and thus short route trips are also affected. Apart from this, less than truckload consolidators or part load transporters are greatly affected as they need 3-4 days to collect cargo for a truck from multiple suppliers,” he said.