Dimapur, September 28: Taking note of the notification of the Municipal Affairs department to lease out toll collection from commercial vehicles to private individuals, firms etc. in Dimapur from the month of October 2016, the Co-ordination Committee of Dimapur District Truck Drivers Welfare Trade Union (DDTDWTU) and Dimapur District Truck Owners Association (DDTOA) has appealed to the department to reconsider its decision in the interest and welfare of its members as well as general consumers and public.
In a release today, DDTDWTU president H. Kaiho Zhimo and DDTOA president Hokheto Kiba sought to point out that the members of DDTDWTU and DDTOA are the major tax payers. And therefore, they said, voice and practical problems faced by the truckers should also be heard when such a move is made. The two associations alleged that prior to the tolls collected by Dimapur Municipal Council staff, the truckers and commercial vehicles had to face innumerable harassments in the hands of collectors of the lessees “who enjoy the close proximity with the authority and whose primary objective is to make maximum profit within a given period” with the general consumers and public at the receiving end.
They, therefore, appealed to appeal to the authority concerned to heed the voice of the tax payers on practical ground.
The two associations also warned that if the department decides to “adamantly” go ahead with its move without taking into consideration the welfare and interest of its tax payers, they should not be held accountable for any untoward incident owing to refusal to pay such tax by its members.
