Addressing a press conference, union president Mohinder Singh Ghura said the union is at its wits' end with the continued negligence of the government towards their demands. ``We have written three letters to Chief Minister Manohar Joshi and the transport commissioner to look into our demands, but there is no answer from them,'' he said.

Listing out their demands, Ghura said automobile manufacturers were lobbying with various state governments to get old vehicles scrapped. ``As long as the vehicles are maintained well, why should they be put offthe roads,'' he said, adding that no vehicle owner would want to keep a vehicle which was uncompetitive or uneconomical.

The union has asked that police power for implementation and enforcement of the Motor Vehicle Act should be totally withdrawn since, he claimed, it was an easy instrument for corruption and harassment. ``The enforcement of the Act should be done by the Motor Vehicle Department only,'' he emphasised.

He demanded that the government should waive the Motor Vehicle Tax for this year considering the recession in the economy. The government should also fix a minimum freight rate to be paid to vehicle owners, and in tenders where the freight rates are less than the operational costs should be rejected. The organisation would also like the state government to do away with octroi nakas since they too add to corruption and delays at the checkposts. Instead, the union has advocated a cess system, like the experiment in Navi Mumbai.

Talking about toll tax to be levied for the flyover costs, theorganisation has demanded that the tolls should be stopped when the cost of bridges has been fully recovered. The total cost, the amount collected through taxes as well as the balance amount should be made transparent, he asked.