MUMBAI, Aug 24: The Tariff Advisory Committee (TAC) has convened a meeting of truck transporters and the representatives from the General Insurance Corporation (GIC) and the United India Insurance Company to thrash out an amicable third party motor insurance premia acceptable to the transport industry.The meeting, scheduled for August 27, will be held in Delhi. The hike of around 657 per cent in the third party motor insurance premia which came into effect from February 15, 1998 is being opposed by the transporters.
The new levy is very steep as it also includes profit margin of the insurance companies, according to transporters. "The insurance cost incurred on the third party claims are not very high but since insurance companies have added some unnecessary cost elements the premia has increased significantly," said Pravinchandra C Shah, vice-president (west zone), All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC).
According to him, the insurance companies should not grant third party claims in cases where the accident has occurred for no fault of the driver. For instance, the truck operator should not he held responsible if a person hits a truck while passing a signal.
The implementation of third party insurance premia was kept in abeyance last year following an indefinite strike called by the transporters. The AIMTC had again called for an all India strike from August 22 onwards, urging the TAC to reduce the insurance premia. The premia is scheduled for next hike in February 1999.
It may be recalled that the TAC was reconstituted and separated from GIC following the representations made by the transporters.
The TAC chairman, N Rangachary in a meeting with the transporters on August 21 has promised to revise motor tariff by September 30.
Meanwhile, the ministry of surface transport has agreed to remove the levy of Rs 800 imposed by the Orissa government on vehicles entering the state.
"The levy, popularly called the Kachra tax, was imposed a year and half ago on trucks not registered in the state," said Shah. The levy had badly hit those transporters making routine trips to Orissa, he added.
The government has also agreed to remove the toll tax imposed on the Delhi-Jaipur highway. According to Shah, Rs 100 toll was collected from six tyre vehicles using the highways while vehicles having 10 tyres were supposed to pay Rs 260 per visit.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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