The North News
Shimla, February 24
Hundreds of truck operators on Monday took to the streets in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district against the hike in toll charges collected at entry points from vehicles registered outside the state and warned of blocking the national highway if the decision is not rolled back.
The Congress government led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, during a cabinet meeting held on February 13, approved the toll tax barrier policy 2026-27, according to which the light motor vehicles (LMVs), including cars, jeeps and vans would be charged Rs 170 instead of Rs 70 from April 1.
These increased entry toll prices would impact the tourists as well as the freight rates. There are 55 toll barriers in the state. The entry fees will be collected at the barrier and Fastag has been made mandatory.
The truck operators held a massive protest at a barrier located in Nalagarh tehsil of Bagheri town, which is near Kiratpur Sahib in Punjab, against the hiked vehicle entry fee and shouted slogans and strongly condemned the government’s decision.
The protesters pointed out that commercial vehicles like trucks have also been subject to a steep increase and the tax for oversized vehicles with seven or more axles would be charged Rs 900 per day instead of Rs 720.
The increase in entry tax has severely impacted truck operators’ earnings, increased transportation costs and made it extremely difficult to visit relatives and business, said truck operators Raj Kumar and Avtar Singh.
If the government does not immediately withdraw this increase, the truck drivers would be forced to block the national highway and hold a sit-in protest in the coming days, disrupting traffic throughout the region, said truck operator Balveer Singh and dozens of other operators.
The local residents also said this decision is a burden on the common man.
The truck operators said that the tourism and transportation sectors are being adversely affected, while the government is harassing the public in the name of increasing revenue. The protesters appealed to the Sukhu government to withdraw the decision and said that otherwise the agitation will intensify.
The Himachal Pradesh Private Bus Operators’ Association and the Himachal unit of the Bus and Car Operators’ Confederation of India had on February 19 jointly lodged a strong protest against the proposed increase in toll tax rates in the state and demanded its immediate withdrawal.
