'Govt exploiting lorry owners in the name of promoting business'

Bengaluru: The present Motor Vehicle Act is unfavourable to the owners of goods transport vehicles and this is detrimental to the growth of business, said B Chenna Reddy, President of Federation of Karnataka Lorry Owners Association.

Addressing a gathering on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of The Bangalore Local Lorry Owners Association and State Lorry Owners Conference held at Maratha Hostel premises in Basavanagudi, Chenna Reddy said that the government is restricting the development of the industry without giving any specific directions by making plans for the growth of the industry.

Chenna Reddy said that in the name of road safety, the central government has unscientifically increased the fine from a minimum of Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000 but the road safety situation has not changed in any way and there was no control on the number of accidents and deaths.

The tax payment system has been computerised only recently. Similarly, all other services", he added. He called upon the government to pay attention to this. The border Investigation Stations are working continuously 24 hours a day and 365 days a year to ensure that no rules of the Motor Vehicle Act are violated. This has been a hindrance to the transport industry with the number of violations increasing, he said. Chennareddy suggested that the Regional Transport authorities can decide whether the vehicles are in good condition or not with the eligibility certificate and renewal certificate issued only for vehicles in good condition failing which it should be rejected and eligibility certificate denied.

He said it is regrettable that the central government has implemented the Scrap policy of 2022 under which vehicles which are over 15 years old will be scrapped. "This will be a financial burden for those who have invested large sums of money and bought a vehicle. Besides, millions of families are dependent on mechanics who are making a living by relying on old vehicle repair jobs and spare parts dealers. This is hard on people who are just recovering from the pandemic situation." He said new vehicles are registered only if they have a Bharath 6 emission standard but the fuel we get is not environmentally-friendly. He suggested that the central government should jointly convene a meeting with the vehicle owners' associations across the country and take their opinions and suggestions before taking decisions on any new policy.

Minister of Transport and Tribal Welfare Department B Sriramulu, MLAs Uday Garudachar, Zamir Ahmed Khan and Commissioner of Transport S N Siddaramappa were present on the occasion.