Truck unions charging high freight: CII

Tribune News Service

Solan, February 16

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) today said it should be allowed to ply its own vehicles in view of the high freight charged by various truck unions in the state.

Urging the state government to intervene in the contentious issue, CII representatives said the truck unions were charging unreasonable freight from the industry. Chairman, CII, Himachal Pradesh State Council, Sanjay Khurana, pointed out that the freight charged in certain sectors was as high as 30 to 40 per cent as compared to the normal market rates and this had rendered their business uneconomical. He added that exporters from the state were the worst sufferers. Khurana said law-enforcement agencies must check strong arm-twisting tactics used by these truck unions against the industry to prevail upon them. The truck unions do not let the other truck operators to lift goods from the state thereby hampering the free flow of trade. This causes delay in dispatching material and causes losses. Trucks from outside the state are forced to return, affecting the competitiveness of the industry and leading to huge national wastage, Khurana added.

He said: “Company-owned goods transport vehicles should be allowed to carry goods within or outside without any restrictions. Business establishments wanting to use their own fleet of vehicles should be encouraged to do so. Any curbs on the freedom of entrepreneurs to choose what is good for their business is not in tune with the basic principles of a free market economy and bound to have an adverse impact on the state’s economy.”

The CII opined that the unbridled monopolistic trade practices of the truck unions were discouraging fresh investments in the state and also bringing down the state’s score in the ease of doing business ranking. While the CII is committed to economic growth and development of the local populace, the unilateral fixation of the rates by the truck unions should be curbed.