Talks with govt inconclusive; truckers on strike from today

As talks with the government remained inconclusive till late last night, the truckers under umbrella body AIMTC today went on a nationwide indefinite strike demanding reduction of diesel prices and toll fees.

The strike call however has so far remained ineffective, barring a few places, as truckers are hopeful of some solution, according to reports.

AIMTC Secretary General Naveen Gupta told PTI that the body decided to go on strike this morning as talks with Finance Minister Piyush Goyal which continued till 1.30 am today remained inconclusive as nothing concrete was being offered.

Gupta said, today the body is slated to meet ministry officials concerned and earlier, transport minister Nitin Gadkari had sought three months time.

We are hopeful of some concrete solutions today, Gupta said.

Yesterday, Bal Malkit Singh, Chairman, AIMTC core committee, had pegged the daily loss to truckers at Rs 4,000 crore.

Truckers' key demands include reduction in Central and state taxes by getting diesel under GST ambit so that price of the deregulated commodity can be reduced.

AIMTC said it is also against the "flawed and non-transparent" toll collection system that favours road concessioners, and alleged that the time and fuel loss goes up to Rs 1.5 trillion annually on account of this.

Truckers are also miffed at high insurance premia and want a reduction in third-party premium, exemption on third-party premia from GST.

Apart from this, they are also pressing for exemptions and abolitions in direct taxes, national permits for all buses and trucks.

"We are very open to look into all their issues and hope that better sense prevails," a road ministry official had said yesterday.

Established in 1936, the All-India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) calls itself the apex body of transporters representing over 93 lakh truckers and around 50 lakh buses, tourist taxi and cab operators.