BENGALURU: The Karnataka State Lorry Owners and Agents Association (KSLO&A) on Thursday called one-day strike on Friday, February 26 in protest against the hike in fuel prices and toll rates, and also warned the Union government of bringing transportation to a grinding halt from March 15 if the issues raised by it are not addressed.
Addressing a press conference, KSLO&A president G.R. Shanmugappa said that exorbitant tax on oil is causing colossal financial distress to the lorry owners. "The Union government should take immediate steps to reduce the cess while the state government should reduce the value added tax (VAT) by Rs 4, or else it will be extremely difficult to run the business," he said.
Coming down heavily on the Centre over its vehicle scrappage policy, Shanmugappa said the economy has not recovered yet and under such circumstances, how can the government even think of coming out with a scrappage policy. "We have been requesting the Union government to allow old vehicles with new engines instead of scrapping them altogether," he said.
"Implementing such a policy means scrapping 1.65 lakh vehicles in Karnataka alone. The Union government seems to have come out with this policy only to help the vehicle manufacturers," he alleged. "At least the governments of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala should respond to our demands. All the BJP-ruled states have reduced VAT by Rs 5. The southern states, including Karnataka, should follow them," he said.
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