Members of the Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners and Agents Association have decided to go on an indefinite strike from the midnight of June 30, protesting the rule to make speed governors mandatory in public transport vehicles in Karnataka.

The Federation claimed that all transport vehicles — including those from other states — would stop plying on roads in the State.

The decision was taken on Saturday, following a  meeting called by the association, that was also attended by delegates representing lorry owners associations in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The strike is also backed by the All India Motor Transport Congress.

The Karnataka government has fixed July 1 as the deadline for vehicle owners to fix the speed governors.

Through the two-month period given by the government for the vehicle owners to comply, lorry owners’ delegations had made several representations and had also met Union Minister for Road Transport T R Baalu in this connection.

The non-availability of speed governors in the market had also led to the State government's decision to defer implementation of the rule by two months. Registration of new transport vehicles in Karnataka has also been hit ever since talk on the rule started doing the rounds.

Uniformity sought

“The Supreme Court verdict in this connection is applicable to all states in the country. However, the rule is at present proposed only in Karnataka,” Federation president G R Shanmugappa told Deccan Herald. He pointed out that the speed governors would drastically bring down the speed of vehicle movement on National Highways.

According to the Federation, Karnataka functions as a transportation gateway in the South and the rule could seriously affect goods movement to and from the State.

Though the government norms allow a speed of 80 km per hour on NHs, the speed governors would slacken the vehicle speed and in turn, lead to delay in delivery of consignments and cancellation of payment, Mr Shanmugappa said.

He also claimed that the fixing of speed governors was the responsibility of the vehicle manufacturer, and not the vehicle owner.