BENGALURU: Inter- and intra-state movement of goods, food grains, vegetables and fruits could be adversely affected from April 7 onwards with the All India Confederation of Goods Vehicles Owners’ Association (AICGVOA) calling for an indefinite nationwide strike protesting against incredibly high insurance premium tariffs to be imposed on them from April 1.
The decision to launch an indefinite strike came after the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India’s (IRDAI’s) failure to respond to the association’s pleas to de-tariff high premiums, to enable the goods vehicle owners sustain their business.
“In our memorandum dated March 10, 2018, we had submitted to the IRDAI that as per the premium increase enclosed, the third party premium has steadily increased year after year; and now the increase has reached 439% to 1,117%,” the AICGVOA president B Channa Reddy has said in a statement. “To stop this tendency, we had requested the IRDAI authority to de-tariff the third party premium as this insurance business has been opened to public participation.”
The AICGVOA had sent a representation to the IRDAI in Hyderabad on March 10, 2018 against their proposal to increase the third party insurance premium from April 1, 2018.“The IRDAI has not responded and we feel let down,” Reddy said. There are two types of insurance for goods vehicles — one is the comprehensive policy or the first party premium, and the other is third party premium. The first party premium is optional to the goods vehicles owners, but the third party premium is mandatory.