Truckers call off strike as govt okays toll rate cut
The transporters’ strike led by the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) was called off in the wee hours of Friday, with the government conceding to revise toll rates to levels before December 1, 2007.
By ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: The transporters��� strike led by the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) was called off in the wee hours of Friday, with the government conceding to revise toll rates to levels before December 1, 2007. Toll rates are expected to drop by almost 40% on an average following this decision. Both the government and the transporters��� union also reached an agreement that service tax would be levied only on value-added services only. The tax would be applicable on 25% of the bill value with the Centre giving transporters 75% abatement.
In addition, any service provided by a Goods Transport Agency (GTA) in relation to transportation of goods is to be treated as GTA service and will attract service tax. Services subcontracted by GTA from other service providers will be excluded from the service tax ambit since the value of such services is already taxed under GTA services.
Services provided by GTA are classified in some cases also as courier service and cargo-handling service and subjected to service tax on full value without giving abatement of 75%. To avoid disputes, all services relating to transportation of goods by road will be subject to service tax under GTA service only. This is being done as there are no clear-cut criteria to distinguish courier and/or cargo handling services from GTA service.
The government also said departmental proceedings initiated against some GTAs providing services in relation to transportation of goods since January 2005 would be dropped after due consideration in the light of the above decisions. The agreement was reached with transport secretary Brahm Dutt and revenue secretary PV Bhide leading negotiations from the government���s side.
The two sides also reached a mutual agreement by way of which toll rates of the National Highways Authority of India-controlled and public-funded highways would be kept in abeyance. It was also decided that there would not be any increase in toll for a period of one year for such stretches and this will also apply to Operation, Maintenance and Transfer (OMT) contracts given by NHAI for such projects.
However, there are only 770 km of highways under the NHAI toll as against 5,000-6,000 km with private players on BOT basis. The country as a whole has a total length on 66,000 km of highways. ���So it is only 770 km on which they have managed exemption,��� SP Singh of the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training (IFTRT) said.
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As per the agreement, the government will constitute a committee to look into all toll-related issues, including user fee rates. ���The proposed committee will have members from NHAI, department of road transport & highways, other related departments and six members from the AIMTC besides some road sector experts,��� the transport secretary said. The committee would be asked to give its report within nine months of its constitution.It was also decided to set up a permanent mechanism to monitor, review and oversee functioning of the toll system. This mechanism would be headed by the NHAI chairman. It would have the power to examine the standards and service levels provided by the service provider and will also recommend suitable corrective actions.
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