The government's demonetisation move will impact the sales of commercial vehicles in the near term as fleet operators are likely to put new vehicle purchase on hold, ratings agency ICRA said on Wednesday.
The rating agency said the demand for trucks has fallen by 15-30 per cent post-demonetisation.
"Market load operators have hit the most owing to high reliance on cash-based transactions to meet trip expenses," the ratings agency said in a statement.
"Freight rates have not moved in line with recovery in diesel prices owing to low cargo availability and have risen by 7-9 per cent."
According to the ratings agency, on the side of commercial vehicles financiers, cash-based collections have dwindled significantly after the demonetisation move.
On the side of dealers, new vehicle enquiries have dried up, and customers have also put existing orders on hold.
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The agency further said the impact of demonetisation will be lower in the buses segment due to higher share of institutional client base.
--IANS
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