BS reported that truckers in the Southern States and Maharashtra are planning to go on an indefinite strike from August 8.

The strike is called against the recent hike in the diesel prices and they were demanding that the government implement toll concession, which was agreed to in 2010. The proposed strike is expected to cause losses to the tune of INR 2,500 crore a day to the government and INR 5,000 crore in the four southern states as there will be no movement of cargo.

Mr V Chennakesavan district president and state treasure, Lorry Owners’ Association told Business Standard around 2.2 million trucks will be off the road from the mid night of August 8. Around 1.6 million trucks from the Southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry and 600,000 vehicles from Maharashtra will be off from the roads.

He added that “This would create a loss of around INR 2,500 crore to the government. The proposed strike is expected to cause a loss of INR 5,000 crore to the economy, with cargo movement and from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry getting affected. The truck owners want the Government to implement toll concession which was agreed in 2010. Though they have agreed, in 2010, they did not implement so far.”

The government agreed to reduce the toll charges by 50% if the truck operates within the district. He added that “They are also charging toll for six ways, while the road is only four ways, in some parts of Tamil Nadu.”

The Truck owners also protesting against hike in the third party insurance which rose by 69%. Earlier, truck owners were paying INR 6,400 which was now increased to INR 11,800.

Earlier All-India Motor Transport Congress president GR Shanmugappa said that the hike in diesel prices was unwarranted for the time being.

The government had increased diesel prices by INR 2 a liter on June 25 and it had also announced that diesel prices will also be market-determined in due course, as in the case of petrol now.

(Sourced from BS)