Owners and operators of buses, not trucks, deserve another three months exemption from paying Motor Vehicle tax or fees, according to the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training (IFTRT), a transport sector think tank.

Responding to the demand of transporters union – All India Motor Transport Congress – the IFTRT said it has sought further extension in exemption for trucks and buses from paying the road permit fee till end-June.

Bus operators hit harder

IFTRT has maintained that in the present circumstances, trucks and buses cannot be equated due to multiple reasons – first, trucking business has crossed pre-Covid-19 level of business now, while large segment of bus operators are yet to recover from the Covid-19 impact with schools, colleges and several companies including IT companies across the country on a work from home mode. This WFH trend has reduced the bus fleet utilisation during Covid -19 period to 45 -50 per cent now compared to pre-Covid-19 period, said Singh.

Meanwhile, truck fleet owners have been able hike truck freight charges more than extent of increase in cost of inputs like increase in diesel, tyres and vehicles, and pass on the higher rates to their customers, said IFTRT, which also tracks truck freight rates. Also, vehicle finance interest rates have dropped in last three months.

IFTRT maintained that Government should not succumb to the “unfair” demand of transporters’ body to extend non-payment of motor vehicle related taxes to regional transport offices as States are already starved of revenue from road transport sector since February/March 2020.

Also, from the overall pie of commercial vehicles, 85 per cent vehicles are trucks while 15 per cent vehicles are passenger carriers including buses, Singh said.

Truckers’ plea

AIMTC’s President Kultaran Singh Atwal has written to the Road Transport Ministry seeking extension of validity of all documents till June 30 (from the present rule of March 31 that was introduced last year with Covid-19 outbreak last year) pointing out that several small truck owners and operators are reeling under challenges like shortage of traffic at one end and the need to repay vehicle loans.

The moratorium on loan repayment has ended and financiers are chasing truckers who are facing financial stress as 25-30 per cent goods carrying vehicles are still idle due to economic conditions, he maintained.

Rents for certain cargo like grapes between Nasik and Delhi has dipped as trucks face competition from trains making it tougher for truckers . Adding to the ongoing woes is the government move towards scrappage policy as vehicle costs have soared after Euro VI norms were implemented with some large trucks costing about ₹48 lakh.

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