500,000 trucks in TN on strike, keep off roads

Around five lakh trucks went off roads in Tamil Nadu on Monday pressing for various demands including a revision of GST rates and an end to daily revision of diesel prices, said an official of the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC).

"The trucks are participating in the two-day token strike. The business loss in the state will be around Rs 5,000 crore and at the national level it will be nearly 10 times that figure," AIMTC Vice President-South Zone, P.V. Subramani told IANS.

According to him, the double taxation -- 28 per cent Goods and Services Tax while buying and selling of trucks -- was killing the truckers.

Speaking to IANS, S. Yuvaraj, President, Tamil Nadu Sand Lorry Federation, said federation members were also participating in the strike.

Yuvaraj said the truckers were willing to pay a one-time toll fee so that trucks do not have to wait at the toll gates but the government was not agreeing to that.

He also said that the government should revise the diesel prices once in three months and not daily so that they could price their services accordingly.