The diesel price hike will add a burden of Rs 500-800 per day on each individual lorry owner, Krishna District Lorry Owners Association president K V Ramesh said, not ruling out a hike in the transportation charges.
The owners feel that the hike will definitely cause an increase in prices of essential commodities, passing on the additional burden to the common man.
Ramesh told Express that the hike is a huge onus on individual lorry owners as compared to those who enter into agreements with companies.
“The owners of the comapnies generally declare in the agreement that transport charges will increase with an increase in oil prices. Hence, they may not suffer losses with the present hike,” he said.
Also, there is no demand for the vehicles at present in the market. Only about 24,000 of 40,000 lorries are plying on roads in the district. Chittoor Lorry Owners Association H Amarnath opined that five rupees increase in the diesel per litre in effect will be Rs 6.50 including Vat and other charges. “It is a huge hike which is sure to hit the transport sector hard, including goods transportation,” he said.
For instance, the minimum charge for goods transport from Chittoor to Chennai will be increased from Rs 6,000 to Rs 6500-Rs 7000.