NEW DELHI: In a change of tack to get more support from other quarters, the protesting truckers organisation All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) on Thursday announced it would continue its strike until government finds a way out to “end the toll barriers” on highways across the country.

However, while all these years AITMC had been suggesting that the truckers can pay an annual charge such as national permit fee to compensate the toll revenue loss, now they have also suggested that the government can levy an additional cess on diesel and petrol to compensate for the loss. The government has rejected the proposals. “If a tangible solution is found by the government on this issue, truckers will end strike,” AIMTC’s core committee chairman Bal Malkit Singh said.

AIMTC said their last meeting with finance minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday night did not yield any result which has forced them to continue the strike.

While the truckers’ demand has some merit considering that about 97% of the toll revenue comes from commercial vehicles most of which are trucks, there has been opposition against any such proposition. “Why should trucks that don’t come on to the highways be made to pay anything extra? How can one truckers body decide for all truckers?” asked S P Singh of IFTRT, a think tank on transport issues.

The annual toll revenue collected is approximately Rs 22,000 crore.

Meanwhile, official data of commercial traffic flow at all the 402 toll plazas on national highways show that there has been about 37% decline between July 19 and July 25. Gujarat , Maharashtra and Delhi have been the most impacted due to truckers strike.

As the truckers announced an intensification of their strike, Kerala chief minister Pinayari Vijayan has written to Union minister Nitin Gadkari and MPs from AIADMK and CPM have appealed to the government to resolve the issue. They have said the strike has impacted industry and pushed up prices of items such as vegetables.

Interestingly, official data on the prices of 22 essential commodities tracked by the consumer affairs ministry show there is hardly any impact across cities. Malkit Singh said the strike does not cover the vehicles that are engaged in transporting essential commodities, but with the “growing dissatisfaction” among truckers there is a possibility of everyone in the trade joining the strike.

