Commuters on national highways and expressways will need to pay more for their road journeys, as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has increased toll charges by an average of 4 to 5 per cent on highway sections across the country. The revised toll charges for motorists on national highways across the country have come into effect from Tuesday, a senior highways ministry official told PTI.
Consolidation has begun, due to which some are trying to trim the business and others are seeking an exit. The situation would worsen after August 31.
The recurrent increases in fuel prices over the past 10 days are eating into the margins of transporters, who will be forced to pass on the hikes to their customers. This, in turn, is set to make the prices of daily consumables and other goods dearer, affect consumption, and slow economic growth, said transporters and analysts. Freight rates on grand trunk routes have shot up 3-4 per cent month-on-month in the past few days, according to the Indian Foundation of Transport Research & Training (IFTRT).
This will have an impact on inflation as everyone in the value chain passes on the costs.
The possibility of harassment by cops and fear of the unknown have forced a large number of truck drivers to abandon vehicles at the transport centres and flee home. Transport of goods remains badly hit as confusion remains among various stakeholders and road transport becomes the victim of disconnect between policy makers and local authorities.
Some 500,000 drivers and helpers have been left high and dry because of lockdown; many of these trucks are carrying essential goods.
'I see a virtually zero impact on the sales of new vehicles with this move,' said an expert
Truckers on Thursday proceeded on a nationwide indefinite strike.
Truck rentals during calendar year 2010 rose by 24-40 per cent on trunk routes, with robust manufacturing growth and high consumer spending. However, the rentals stabilised during December and are expected to remain firm in the first quarter of calendar year 2011.
In its analysis of truck rentals and diesel prices in the country between September to November period, IFTRT said, the government's decision to reduce diesel price by Rs 2 per litre last year has not benefited the common man as freight rates have been maintained at high levels.
About 50,000 truckers, most of whom are single-truck owners, could be thrown off their businesses due to the recent fuel price hike. "Already the vehicle supply on the road is higher than the requirement. "With the fuel price hike, fleet owners will look to cut down fleet size wherever needed and due to this, small single-truck owners could be at the receiving end," Ashok Goyal, managing director at BLR Logistiks (I) Ltd said. The company has a fleet of 500 vehicles of all types-small, medium and large with pan-India presence.
Mahindra is the latest among a clutch of other manufacturers that have been using services, fuel efficiency and packages as unique selling proposition. Sales of Mahindra's heavy trucks dropped to 3,427 units in the eight months from April to September.
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari promised pan-India electronic toll system by December to address their concerns but ruled out complete scrapping of the toll system.
Govt refuses to budge on their demand for scrapping the present toll system
The reason for the EPE's relatively low volume of traffic may lie in the lack of adequate safety measures, especially after sundown. Barring intermittent patches, the highway has no street lights.
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