Truck drivers across Maharashtra began an indefinite strike on Wednesday to protest the e-challan system and demand resolution of other longstanding issues, significantly affecting the state’s goods transportation services, according to a transporters’ representative.
Transporters allege that the authorities’ approach to recovering e-challan fines has become excessively aggressive, disrupting business operations and resulting in mounting penalties, PTI reported.
The strike was organized by the Vahatukdar Bachao Kruti Sanghatana, an action committee representing several transporters’ associations.
While the truckers initiated their protest at midnight, bus operators have chosen to delay their involvement for a few days.
“The strike has received a mixed response as it is the first day, but the situation will be different post-afternoon,” said Uday Barge, the action committee’s convenor. Barge told PTI that between 1.5 lakh and 2 lakh trucks and goods vehicles across Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra were expected to remain off the roads.
He also noted that trucks were completely off the roads in Mumbai’s commercial hub of Kalbadevi. In other areas, transport association members were using peaceful “Gandhigiri” methods to encourage more transporters to join the strike.
The demands raised by the protesting transporters include stopping forceful recovery of e-challan fines, cancelling e-challans older than six months, waiving current penalties, scrapping the mandatory cleaner requirement for heavy vehicles, and reviewing no-entry timings in metropolitan areas.
In response, the Maharashtra government has formed a 10-member committee comprising senior officials from the Mumbai traffic police, highway police, motor vehicles department, and representatives from transport associations. The committee has been tasked with examining the transporters’ concerns and is expected to submit its findings within a month, according to a Government Resolution (GR) issued late Tuesday.
Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik had previously promised the formation of such a committee on June 26. Earlier, transporters had staged a sit-in protest at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan starting June 16, which they called off on June 24 after Industries Minister Uday Samant assured them a meeting would be held to resolve their concerns.
That meeting, held the following day, saw both Sarnaik and Samant pledge to form the committee. However, due to the lack of concrete action on key issues—particularly the cancellation of e-challans older than six months—transporters decided to proceed with the strike in July.
Kailas Pingle, president of the Maharashtra Rajya Motor Malak Sangh, which is backing the strike, urged the state government to follow Uttar Pradesh’s example by waiving old e-challan fines.
Meanwhile, a bus operators’ leader said on Tuesday that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had requested them to delay joining the strike to avoid inconvenience to warkaris (devotees of Lord Vitthal) ahead of Ashadi Ekadashi. As a result, bus operators have postponed their participation for the time being.
