Punjab cabinet bars carriage operators from forming unions

In a bid to end cartelisation, the Punjab cabinet today approved rules which bar goods carriage operators from forming cartels or unions in the state.
The Punjab Goods Carriages (Regulation and Prevention of Cartelisation Rules), 2017, were given the nod at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh here, an official spokesperson said.
The proposed new rules will be placed in public domain for 30 days for any comments or objections, said the spokesperson, adding that the move was aimed at destroying the "mafia of good transporters who had cartelised the business over the past several years, obstructing the free and fair movement of goods transport, thereby also impacting industrial development of the state".

To protect the interests of the transporters, it was also decided that the government should fix the minimum and maximum fares and freights for goods carriers, the spokesperson said.
Once these rules come into effect, no operator or permit holder of goods carriages shall be allowed to form a cartel denying freedom of choice to the consignors and consignees to engage the services of such operators or permit holders, the spokesperson said.