Even as more than a month has passed since the new national permit scheme for truckers came into force, only seven states have been able to implement it.
The states that have not been able to launch it will need time to abolish road permit charges from their earnings.
“Only Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and parts of Madhya Pradesh have been able to implement the new permit scheme,” said a road transport ministry official on the condition of anonymity.
The new scheme, which came into force on May 7 against its earlier target of September-end, has helped bring down the operating cost of truckers.
Now, to operate across the country, a trucker will have to pay a fee of Rs 15,000 per year, which will be collected by the central government.
Earlier, a permit from Delhi to Kanyakumari would have cost Rs 25,000 a year.
The truckers will deposit the fees at the branches of State Bank of India, following which the Centre will collect and distribute them among states. Earlier, every state was entitled to issue the permit at a fee, which was collected by itself.
“Many states that have not been able to launch the scheme will have to bring an amendment to make their earnings from permit charges,” the ministry official added.
Industry sources say that these issues have emerged because the ministry forced the sudden implementation of the permit scheme. “The permit scheme was to be implemented from September but was brought earlier to May, thus leading to all the confusion. The road transport ministry is responsible for the same and not the states,” said S P Singh, senior fellow, The Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training.
