The union said the wait at toll nakas led to loss of fuel worth Rs 87,000 crore a year and without the wait, the trucks can make an extra trip every month .
Mumbai : The All India Motor Transport Union has threatened to go on an indefinite strike starting from October 1 if the government does not pay heed to their demands of exempting trucks from toll collection on roads. The union has urged the government to collect toll for an entire year in advance and not when the vehicle is heading from one city to the other.
The unions have even agreed to pay about 10% more than the present toll amounts if the new formula of collecting the toll in advance in accepted by the government.
The union leaders have made the demand as they say that a truck has to halt at 16 odd locations between Delhi and Mumbai which leads to a loss of fuel worth Rs 87,000 crore in a year apart from time. A truck carrying goods from Mumbai to Delhi has to stop for atleast 10 minutes at each toll plaza which also leads to considerable loss of time, stated union leaders.
Amrit Lal Madan, Vice President of All India Motor Transport Congress, said: “If the trucks will not be stopped at these tolls, the number of trips they make in a month will increase from three per month to four. The waiving of the toll will also in turn benefit the consumer of the goods as the productivity will increase.”
The unions have further demanded waiving off the TDS, which they say has been implemented only after the BJP government came to power.
