The Centre and states are jointly planning a new national permit system for truckers, a move to ease inter-state movement of goods and bring down food inflation. The new scheme will take effect from May 1, 2010.
Currently, a trucker with a ?national permit? can operate in a maximum of four contiguous states, including his home state. The permit is given by the government of the home state on an annual fee of Rs 5,000. Soon, truckers will be able to get a truly pan-India permit, on a fee that is thrice the current one, a senior official from the ministry of road transport and highways told FE.
The plan is to roll out the scheme from May 1, 2010, although there is a view that this is too early a date to launch such a scheme which requires the consent of all states. An empowered committee of state transport ministers has already discussed the pros and cons of the proposed scheme and there is a general consensus in its favour, sources said.
A committee headed by road transport secretary Brahm Dutt has already fixed an annual composite fee of Rs 15,000 per vehicle for the new national permit. The idea is to allow all states in which a truck operates to share revenue. Details of the revenue-sharing model are being worked out by the empowered committee headed by the transport minister of Rajasthan.
Brahm Dutt told FE: ?In the current system, it is pretty easy to share revenue, as only four states are involved. Deriving a new sharing mechanism may take a while as every state in the country is potentially involved. There is a need to change the current notifications governing fee sharing among states.? According to sources, road transport and highways minister Kamal Nath has promised introduction of the new scheme from May to All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) in a meeting on Tuesday. Thanks to the Centre?s assurance, truck operators have decided to defer their proposed nation-wide strike from April 5 by a month.
The new pan-India permit for truckers would reduce the increase in cost of food and other primary articles due to avoidable unloading and uploading and the resultant delays in transportation. Trucks handle 65% of freight transportation in the country, while their share in the movement of primary articles would be still higher. AIMTC president G R Shanmugappa warned that truck operators would go on strike if the promise is not fulfilled immediately. ?Within a month, we will review the implementation of the minister?s promises and stage a strike immediately if we find them unfulfilled,? he said.