MUMBAI: Till yesterday, Ajay Sawant (35), used to earn his livelihood from Octroi collections, on the Dahisar check naka in suburban Mumbai. From July 1 as a new GST regime takes shape, he has no clue of how he is going to survive.Octroi collections will fade away as a state-government levy, taking with it as many as 15,000 jobs like Sawant's. He will have to look for something else to do. There are five check-nakas or toll collection points in Mumbai area including Dahisar, Vashi, Mulund, Thane, Airoli. Whenever trucks with goods cross those points, they are supposed to pay octroi. These nakas have traditionally employed about 3,000 licenced Octroi agents, who used to collect the tax on behalf of the local body. Besides, there are 3,000 independent non-licence holder agents. All of those employ about five-six people on an average, who earn Rs 8,000-15,000 a month.Sawant, who lives in a Mira road shanty has eight dependents in his family. He now plans to set up a “shop serving vada pav” a Maharashtrian delicacy off Western Express Highway. These octroi agents thousands of family dependents who are wondering what will happen to their jobs, livelihoods and future. Vikram Rawat (40) who runs Vishwas Octroi is yet to figure out on what should he do to feed his family of four. “I have to survive. They are neither giving back our deposit money nor helping us to find any alternative outsourced job opportunity within the local body,” Rawant said.A licenced Octroi agent normally deposits about Rs 20,000, which is refundable if the licence is not renewed. To obtain a licence, an agent is even supposed write an exam. For Santosh Yadav (37), who spearheads Datta Octroi Agency, there is only one option: “Gaon chale jayenge!” (Will return to my village). " Setting up something new is not an easy task at this age. I should start cultivation,” said the middle-aged man hailing from Uttar Pradesh. Octroi tax varies in the range of 3-7% depending on the product be it garments, wooden furniture or electronic goods.These agents are also stuck with lakhs of outstanding bill from their clients with whom they have been doing business for years. Such abolition will however bring cheer to truck drivers, who used to stand in long queues for hours to clear their Octroi obligation. “I have been waiting for Octroi clearance in the past two and half hours,” said Suresh, a truck driving who was heading to Gujarat with his truck-load. In absence of this physical system, corruption charges too will come down as some truck drivers would escape by allegedly bribing the police. At the same, the move should ease road-jam to an extent.