AITWA Appeals to Gadkari for Ministry's Directives to Ground Level Authorities to Restore Supply Chain

While thanking Union Minister Nitin Gadkari for his initiative and directives to resume transport services amid the COVID-19 crisis, All India Transporters' Welfare Association (AITWA) intends to draw an immediate attention of the ministry to the issues which are blocking the smooth resumption of transport of goods across the country.

In response to the circular issued by MHA on April 15, 2020, AITWA has explained through its letter to the ministry the gap existing between the intent with regards to directives for the logistics industry and its implementation at ground level.

While elaborating some of those prime gaps Pradeep Singal, Chairman of All India Transporters' Welfare Association (AITWA) said, "In spite of the directive by Union Government, warehouses were not being allowed to operate, ground staff were not allowed to move to their place of work, truck drivers were stuck at their villages for want of any public transport availability. The worst part was that there was no SOP in place for the industry for getting permissions. What's more, every state has been dealing the situation differently."

Another vital point Abhishek Gupta - Joint Secretary, AITWA added, "NHAI had stopped Toll Collection till April 20, 2020; but now it restarted the same even though the truck mobilization is very limited. This needs to be reconsidered by the Government."

AITWA is a responsible Association totally committed to the welfare of transporters, drivers and stakeholders, of this trade but at the same committed to the national interest. It has been amply visible that during the lockdown AITWA is the only Association at National level that has undertaken various welfare and relief work such as:

To organize food for stranded truck drivers all over India; serving daily between 60,000 to 90,000 drivers with food packages with the help of its members, associates, and Corporates across India.

To initiate truck cabin sanitization at the locations where critical shipments of supply chain was started viz. Mumbai Air Cargo terminal, JNPT Nhava Sheva, Delhi Air Cargo Terminal and many more new locations. Nearly 2800 trucks sanitized so far till 24th April 2020

To initiate the online education about dos and don'ts through smart phones to all drivers and to equip them with masks, hand gloves and hand sanitizers

To work as per directive of Special Logistics Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, to clear off air cargo terminals, JNPT port and various CFS by organizing vehicles against all odds. As first responders we visited JNPT & Railway sidings on instructions of Ministry for providing EXIM movement support.

By taking initiatives like creating a free platform of Freight Exchange.

By creating an e-pass solution and offering the same free to Government of India and state Governments.

By organizing inspirational Webinars with world-class speakers like Mr. Shiv Khera and others.

Issuing useful advisory to the industry and its customers from time to time.

While stating about the content of the recent letter submitted to Union Minister Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Mahendra Arya - President, AITWA said "The letter to Mr. Gadkari primarily mentioned about the huge amount of hardship and harassment to transporters at ground level without any productive outcome; as we as transporters' body fear the supply chain could never become live in present state of affairs. The worst part was that our Association has been getting hundreds of phone calls from its members asking for help and direction on the issue of difficulty in operation due to unclear directions to ground level authorities. In this regards it was mentioned in the letter that if the situation of confusion and chaos continues like this, the transporters may not be able to operate in spite of their desire to be operative. In fact the association has given various suggestions to the ministers; some of the suggestions given to ministry are as follows."

Define roles and authorities at ground level; so that the directive of MHA circular could be adhered to. Streamline issue of passes by using some online system like e-pass in consultation with State/UT Governments. AITWA cited its experience about e-pass issued to drivers as a supporting document to their valid pass - their driving license

Drivers to be allowed to travel interstate to reach vehicles, how else will the availability of trucks improve

Do not scare transporters who are trying to keep supply chain live for essential goods. Encourage them. Insurance cover to this industry workers

Advice all users of logistics services to rely on e-documents and avoid papers' handling at all levels of supply chain, otherwise payments will be blocked & lead to cash flow issues.

Let toll collection be stopped until a semi normal level of truck movement is restored.

AITWA hereby informs all concerned that it will work in-line with Government directives; with a request that the same should be implemented at ground level by taking states/UTs on board. An association like AITWA does not believe in stopping the work at any time, it believes in working together to find solutions to the problem in national interest.

About AITWA

All India Transporters Welfare Association (AITWA) was established in the year 2000 as a society registered under Societies Registration Act, 1860 for the welfare of Indias Road Transport Fraternity and to act as its mouthpiece in the matters related to countrys Road Transport Industry. During the past Eighteen years, AITWA has been recognized as one of the foremost apex bodies of Indias Road Transport Sector by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). AITWA have been generously working as a powerful pillar of nations prosperous economy from the past 18+ years, representing nearly 65% of the organized Indian Road Transport Business. A proud member and Indian partner of International Road Transport Union (IRU Geneva), AITWA represent issues of Indias transport industry with Central & State Governments and other authorities including planning commission. It also interacts with various other trade forums like CII, FICCI, and ASSOCHAM, PHDCCI, CAIT, etc. to help formulate the best system and policies.

With four zones and National office in the heart of India Delhi, the network and reach of AITWA spreads across the length and breadth of the country.

To know more about All India Transporters' Welfare Association, please visit: www.aitwa.org.

Two Major Transporters' Bodies Stop Buying New Trucks Citing Unviable Biz Environment

Two major transport industry bodies, All India Transporters Welfare Association (AITWA) and All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) have lashed out at the government saying the current policies are hurting the sector and making businesses environment unviable.

Stating that high GST rate, Rs 2 cess on diesel announced in Budget, hike in presumptive tax and increase in insurance have hurt transporters severely, the two associations said and added that their members have put on hold purchasing of new trucks as the current business environment is unviable and many truckers are staring at loan defaults.

"It is a collective decision of our members as the current situation is not favourable for transport trade. Vehicles are not a profitable business anymore," AITWA National President Mahendra Arya told PTI.

He said starting from August, major transport associations across different cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru have decided not to purchase any new trucks.

He said due to high GST of 28 per cent, initial cost has gone up and not only that many small transporters are bearing the burden directly as they don't get credit on it.

Expressing similar views, AIMTC ex-president and Chairman of core committee Bal Malkit Singh said, "no one is buying new vehicles. From the past six months many people are not buying at all."

He further said there has been a severe slump in the industry and in the past many months many of the transporters are unable to buy new vehicles because the existing fleets have become unviable.

"Many of our members are defaulting on EMIs. Our member associations across India have asked banks for rescheduling of loans till things improve otherwise there will be a mass default and mass surrender of vehicles," Singh cautioned.

Putting the blame on the government for the situation, AITWA questioned the wisdom to club trucks in 28 per cent GST slab with 'sin goods' like cigarettes, paan masala, aerated water and luxury cars.

"Where does a truck fit into this definition?" AITWA asked, adding "for a truck owner GST is a cost and not an adjustment of credit or debit".

It further said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's maiden budget "brought two disastrous decisions" -- Rs 2 cess on diesel and 2 per cent TDS on cash withdrawal of over Rs 1 crore per annum.

AITWA said diesel accounts for 60 per cent of the total cost of transportation and "it is not a rocket science to understand how such an increase will affect overall transport cost".

"This was a permanent increase unlike the daily fluctuation in tandem with international crude prices," it added.

Singh of AIMTC also said the TDS on cash withdrawal is a further additional burden to the transporters as the sector heavily cash dependant. Driver and crew members require cash to meet all their expenses on the highway besides other expenditures, he said.

AITWA also said the presumptive tax which was introduced to help out small transporters have now started hurting them due to changes in the methodology of calculations, as a result of which presumptive amount of income has increased substantially than the actual income.

AITWA claims membership of top 500 transport companies in the business of bookings and logistics, while AIMTC said it has membership of around 90 lakh small road transporters across India with affiliation of 3,500 associations. PTI RKL