Transporters’ strike likely to paralyse economy
With the entire transport community comprising 100-odd organisations affiliated to All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), the apex trade body of road transport industry, planning to go on indefinite strike.
By ET Bureau |
With the entire transport community comprising 100-odd organisations affiliated to All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), the apex trade body of road transport industry, planning to go on indefinite strike, it is feared to bring life in many of the commercials centers of the country into a standstill from Wednesday, 2 July 2008.
"Nothing will move on the road," said a senior functionary of the organisation spearheading the agitation, the kind of which was never seen in the transport industry so far.
Mahendra Arya, former president of Bombay Goods Transport Association, said, "Issues of this strike are such which should have been addressed by the government much earlier, not just for transporters' sake but for the sake of whole country."
For quite some time, AIMTC has been repeatedly projecting the various problems to the concerned ministries and departments. According to them, they have also written for intervention to Sonia Gandhi and prime minister Manmohan Singh. "However, there has been no outcome," he said.
The transports community, which plys nearly 50 lakh commercial vehicles across the country, feels that it has been at the receiving end of various governments. Whether it is toll tax or user fee, srvice tax, or ever incraseing price of diesel, the industry has been put to great disadvantage.
"Transporters in India are paying Rs 5000 per state per truck per year as national permit fee, Rs 1.5 per liter of diesel as road development cess and also the road tax. In India, the government is using toll tax as a source of additional revenue.
With respect to service tax, according to industry players, even though transporters were kept out of the purview of it in 2004, now the government has brought in new definitions which make the operators pay.
"After reclassifying the activities of a road transporter as courier service, material handling, business auxiliary service etc. by misinterpreting the rules, service tax officers have started issuing notices to many transporters for huge arrears amounts on one pretext or other," said an aggrieved player, who has been asked to pay service tax for the last 14 years.
Lately, the department is trying back door entry by adding 'tangible goods for use-services' to the tax net which as per its definition would have roped in even poor single truck/tempo owners in the tax net who were explicitly relieved by the finance minister by giving special statements in 2004.
"At this stage the industry does not demand anything new but the implementation of the 2004 agreement in letter and spirit by the government. This agreement is sacrosanct for the transport industry and it is on this basis and promise only, the industry came into the ambit of service tax," said another Mumbai-based operator.
The latest blow to the body of transport operators seems to be the diesel price hike which has lead to inflation.
"It has been our long standing demand that ad-valorem duties and taxes be done away with. Rising crude oil prices may have to be passed on to the users, but there is no reason that the centre and states governments should become undue beneficiaries by ad-valorem taxation," said Mr Arya.
"Nothing will move on the road," said a senior functionary of the organisation spearheading the agitation, the kind of which was never seen in the transport industry so far.
Mahendra Arya, former president of Bombay Goods Transport Association, said, "Issues of this strike are such which should have been addressed by the government much earlier, not just for transporters' sake but for the sake of whole country."
For quite some time, AIMTC has been repeatedly projecting the various problems to the concerned ministries and departments. According to them, they have also written for intervention to Sonia Gandhi and prime minister Manmohan Singh. "However, there has been no outcome," he said.
The transports community, which plys nearly 50 lakh commercial vehicles across the country, feels that it has been at the receiving end of various governments. Whether it is toll tax or user fee, srvice tax, or ever incraseing price of diesel, the industry has been put to great disadvantage.
"Transporters in India are paying Rs 5000 per state per truck per year as national permit fee, Rs 1.5 per liter of diesel as road development cess and also the road tax. In India, the government is using toll tax as a source of additional revenue.
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With respect to service tax, according to industry players, even though transporters were kept out of the purview of it in 2004, now the government has brought in new definitions which make the operators pay.
"After reclassifying the activities of a road transporter as courier service, material handling, business auxiliary service etc. by misinterpreting the rules, service tax officers have started issuing notices to many transporters for huge arrears amounts on one pretext or other," said an aggrieved player, who has been asked to pay service tax for the last 14 years.
Lately, the department is trying back door entry by adding 'tangible goods for use-services' to the tax net which as per its definition would have roped in even poor single truck/tempo owners in the tax net who were explicitly relieved by the finance minister by giving special statements in 2004.
"At this stage the industry does not demand anything new but the implementation of the 2004 agreement in letter and spirit by the government. This agreement is sacrosanct for the transport industry and it is on this basis and promise only, the industry came into the ambit of service tax," said another Mumbai-based operator.
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The latest blow to the body of transport operators seems to be the diesel price hike which has lead to inflation.
"It has been our long standing demand that ad-valorem duties and taxes be done away with. Rising crude oil prices may have to be passed on to the users, but there is no reason that the centre and states governments should become undue beneficiaries by ad-valorem taxation," said Mr Arya.
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"It was the government's duty to keep the cost of transportation under control as transportation cost is part of every product and that too right from its raw material stage to finished goods stage," he said, adding that the transport community has been driven to a point from where it cannot function with existing problems.Start a SIP with as low as ₹500 with ET Money App!
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