Truck owners and farmers protested against toll fee hike at Kirambur toll gate in Namakkal district on Saturday. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Truck owners on Saturday demonstrated at the toll gate in Salem and Namakkal districts to protest against the toll fee hike.
A demonstration was held at the Karuppur toll gate on Saturday as part of the statewide protest. The protesters raised slogans urging the central government to roll back the toll fee hike and remove the toll gates whose terms had expired.
State Lorry Owners Federation of Tamil Nadu President C. Dhanraj told mediapersons, “Every year in April and September, the toll fee is increased by 10%. Toll fee has been increased at 29 out of 55 toll gates in Tamil Nadu from Saturday. This will increase the expenses of the truck owners. To make up for the loss, we will have to increase truck rental charges, which will impact the prices of essential commodities. If the central government does not roll back the hike, we will protest with the permission of the All India Motor Transport Congress.”
The protesters also opposed the central government’s plan to collect toll fees using GPRS. He urged Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari to remove those toll gates whose terms have expired.
A similar protest was also held at Kirambur toll gate in Namakkal district.