Truckers to strike, demand inclusion of diesel in GST

KOLKATA: Calling for a 36 hour nationwide strike starting from 8 a.m. of 9 October, truck owners and operators on Saturday protested against the disruptive policies under Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demanded the inclusion of diesel in the new indirect tax’s ambit.

“The post GST scenario has critically impaired the transport trade. The leadership of All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) and other transport associations have proclaimed the two day token nationwide strike starting from 8 a.m. of 9 October (Monday) to 8 p.m. of 10 October. We also support this,” Calcutta Goods Transport Association (CGTA) President Prabhat Kumar Mittal told reporters here.

He said there was utter confusion, chaos and disruption due to varied policies under GST that are imposed on the road transport sector. Transporters also demanded the revision of diesel prices should be done on a quarterly basis.

According to them, confusions arose with the existence of Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM) and Forward Charge (FCM) in GST system.

Supplies of commodities including food are likely to be affected due to the proposed token strike. Transporters were not able to lift goods from unregistered traders as that would require transporters to pay GST on these traders’ behalf under RCM. The GST system also provides another scheme through which transporters can also avail FCM, where they need to pay 12% GST but claim full input credit. There should be only one scheme- 5% in RCM to avoid confusion in trade world, said CGTA Vice President Santosh Saraf.

The sale of used assets also attracts GST which leads to double taxation and proposed E-way bill is not in tune of with road transport sector, Bhaduri said.