Truckers moot annual fee to scrap toll plazas

With a host of demands, lorry owners across the country had called for indefinite strike and heeding to this call, more than 75 lakh lorries will participate in the strike. In Tamil Nadu, close to 4.5 lakh lorries will be part of the strike and this will impact daily supply of essential commodities.

However, interestingly for the first time, lorry owners have sought the support of the public for their strike as they say that the common man is the most affected by the spike in fuel prices and due to the exorbitant rates collected at toll plazas.

Kumarasamy, President, State Lorry Owners Federation Tamil Nadu, told DT Next, that at the time of demonetisation, toll plazas were open for all the vehicles for one week and government paid Rs 52 crore per day, as compensation to the toll plazas, across the country, for not collecting toll fee. If the total amount per year is calculated, it would come to around Rs 17,000-Rs 8,000 crore. The lorry owners are ready to pay the entire amount to the government and there is no need for toll plazas as even government record is proof to lorries incurring a loss in diesel and operation to the tune of Rs1.47 lakh per year due to lengthy queues at toll plazas. The loss per year is manifold when compared to the actual payment.

Kumarasamy also said that if the entire amount is paid by the lorry owners, the car owners need not pay anything. Hence, the people should come forward and extend support to the strike by not using their private vehicle for a day, from 6 am to 6 pm, on July 22. This way, the government might be induced to take a decision on scrapping toll gates, he added.