Transport strike: ‘Why wait for govt to cancel permits,we are giving up business’

The 1,500 permits were sent back to their respective state transport departments. The protesters said the government need not cancel their permits,they were giving up business.

“We do not need the government to cancel our permits; we are surrendering them,” Kultaran Singh Atwal,member of the managing committee of AIMTC,said. “It is better to leave the business than suffer daily. We feel more relaxed now.”

Protesting the high prices of diesel and tyre,the transporters complained that the industry has been incurring huge losses since two years

“We spend nearly 70 per cent of our income on diesel and tyres. And if we make just three trips in a month,we spend around Rs 22,000 on toll tax. With all this,how does one manage to pay back loans and manage the vehicle’s insurance and maintenance,” Atwal said.

They called representatives of finance companies like GE Capital and Tata Finance at a dharna and offered to relinquish their vehicles as they failed to pay their instalments.

“We are unable to pay the EMIs. When our vehicles,which usually carry fruits and vegetables,ply outside their states,they are confiscated. And then the vendors ask us to intervene and save the goods. Either way,we are caught in between and get harassed,” transporter Jaideep Singh said.