Union Food Processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal has requested Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari to exclude tractors used for agricultural purpose from being considered as commercial vehicles.
In a letter to Gadkari, Badal said that as per new rules tractors have been excluded from the category of non-transport vehicles.
She said that "this was having a detrimental effect on the lives of lakhs of farmers in the country".
"This effectively means that tractors used for agricultural purposes will be treated at par with commercial transport vehicles," she said in a release here.
Badal, a Bathinda MP, said that once this new law was implemented, all laws governing commercial vehicles would be applicable on tractors, including requirement of permit, minimum educational qualification for driving, besides the financial constraint of higher GST which would go up from 12 per cent to 28 per cent.
Requesting the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry to reconsider this decision, Badal said given the demographic profile and economic condition of farmers in the country, especially in Punjab, which was an agrarian state, tractors needed to be kept out of the purview of commercial vehicles.
She said this was also needed because farmers were already distressed and would be further burdened with increased tax on tractors.
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