Bracketing animal drawn cart tyres along with those in used luxury vehicles and fixing a goods and services tax (GST) of 28 per cent is unfair and will ruin the backbone of the rural logistics system, say tyre dealers.

In a “mercy’ plea to the Centre on Tuesday, the All India Tyre Dealers’ Federation (AITDF) said 28 per cent of tax on rural animal drawn cart vehicles (ADV) tyres and tubes against the existing 5 per cent or 12.5 per cent valued added tax and “bracketing the backbone rural local logistics with luxury items is unwarranted and irrational.”

The AITDF said the use of pneumatic automotive tyres against the use of rigid wooden wheels or steel wheels in animal drawn carts doubles the life of a bullock cart and increases the speed of ADVs. “Therefore, automotive tyres and tubes are integral to local logistics in rural India,” and urged the government to take a relook at the issue.

Terming it a “travesty of justice”, SP Singh, Convenor, AITDF, said for the past six months they had been pleading with the Centre, the GST Council and Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST, to be fair to rural India by keeping ADV tyres at the 5 per cent bracket, “but no clarity has emerged and the message remains that animal cart drawn tyres and tubes are now to be taxed at 28 per cent rate slab at par with luxury items.”

Singh said it was not too late for a relook into the “perhaps, an inadvertent error, to put animal drawn vehicles tyres of 19” rim size under the 5 per cent rate slab or even bring it under 0 per cent category in larger interest of rural economy and prolonging the healthy life of rural draught power.”