Truckers plan protest meet

Following the recent price hike of petrol and diesel, road transporters have decided to protest the increasing costs of operations.

Road transporters would meet at national level in Delhi on September 16 to chalk out a strategy to bring pressure on the central government to remove irrationalities in the tax structure on diesel.

Transporters, especially in Gujarat, said they were unhappy with the higher sales tax and octroi rates on fuels. Talking to Business Standard, Mukesh Dave, office bearer of All India Motor Transport Congress, said, "There are disparities among the sales tax charged by various states".

In the case with octroi in Gujarat, it was pushing up the price of diesel and imposing a higher costs on operators there compared to other states, he added.

Gujarat-based road transporters were not in a position to compete with Delhi-based counterparts in their interstate operations, because of price differences of diesel, he admitted. "We have drawn attention of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in past and we will address this issue in the all-India meeting in Delhi next week," added Dave.

Similar feedback was received from other parts of Gujarat where road transporters were claiming they were passing through a bad phase.

In the recent past, state-based transporters had lost business owing to massive floods in the central and south Gujarat. "The frequent hike in fuel prices raises question marks on the future of the transport industry", said Rajendra Bhalja, the president of South Gujarat Transporters Association.

On account of cut-throat competition, the road transporters had to operate at very low margins, he claimed. If the fuel prices continued to move upward in the same manner, transporters would have to shut down services, he added, as the fuel price hike was eating away the entire margins. "The government should take steps to make sure that fuel prices are not hiked," said Bhalja.

"Every month or so, the prices of diesel are hiked by Rs 1 or Rs 2 a litre, but despite this, transporters were unable to hike the transportation charges", he said.

They were unable to revise the contract rates as clients refused to pay the higher charge and termed the fuel price rise as minor revisions. Users refused to pay any more money, he added.

"It might be better if the government hikes the fuel price at one go itself - at least, the transporters will not have to suffer." he added. In last two years, the price of diesel had gone up by Rs 7 a litre of which about Rs 1.50 was on account of tax.

Transporters were concerned that the state and local machinery which had nothing to do with the fluctuation of crude prices in international markets would start charging tax at the same rate to push up the revenue from tax.

"The local authorities should rationalise their tax structure if they want the local transport industry to survive," said Dave. Industry was also not comfortable with the frequent hike of fuel prices.

Devkishan Manghani, the spokesman of the Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association, said, "The hike in fuel prices is a matter of concern for everyone". He said he had information that road transporters were planning to hike the transportation charges in view of the rising fuel costs, but they had been requested to do so only after Diwali in November 2005.

"The period before Diwali is the peak business time for the textile industry and if the transporters hike charges at this moment," Manghani added.