Budget failed us, say transporters in southern states

Road transporters termed the Union budget disappointing as it failed to take any steps towards rectifying the major issues troubling the sector and sought an amendment to fix the problems.

South zone Motor Transporters Welfare Association (Simta), which represents Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and other southern states, said that while the association welcomes the Centre's push for an electric vehicle, the budget is a "big dampener" to the road transport sectors.

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"The present toll policy is regressive and is draining more than Rs 1.5 lakh crore every year as per the TCI-IIM Kolkata report of 2014-15. This could be corrected if the budget had included prudent policy initiative like collecting toll through indirect taxation," Simta General Secretary G R Shanmugappa said.

He said the transport sector was witnessing the worst financial crunch but the government has not announced any effective relief. "The budget has increased the effective rate of diesel by Rs 2.50 per litre in retail, putting a financial strain on business operations," he said.

In a release, Simta said the 2% levy of TDS on withdrawal of cash of over Rs 1 crore will cripple the sector where the transactions are cash-based.

"We believe there is a systematic plan to destroy the poor transporters, 85% of which are small operators and entrepreneurs.. to make way for foreign investments," it said, seeking an amendment to the finance bill to address their concerns.