CHENNAI: The 10-day lorry strike in Tamil Nadu, involving nearly four lakh trucks, has been called off, after negotiations with the insurance regulatory body over the hike in third party insurance were successful. The truckers are likely to resume operations on Sunday.
Speaking to Express, C Dhanaraj, secretary, State Lorry Owners Federation - Tamil Nadu (SLOF- TN) said, “After negotiations with Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (officials, it was agreed the hike would be reduced to 27 per cent.”
He said IRDA had initially proposed a 50% hike, but after opposition, it was reduced to 40 per cent and now after the latest round of talks, the hike has been lessened by another 13 per cent. “We were paying nearly `26,000 annually as third party insurance premium prior to the hike, but now we have to shell out about `33,000,” Dhanaraj said.
The strike, which began on March 30, was called by South Indian Motor Transport Association (SIMTA) in the entire southern region to highlight various demands, including a cut in third party insurance premium that has been increased by 50 per cent. In Tamil Nadu, the strike was supported by SLOF- TN.
“Due to the strike, goods with an approximate value of over `10000 crore were not loaded, while lorry operators sustained losses of about `150 crore everyday,” he said. Some of the major segment of goods affected were textiles, foodgrains and steel, Dhanaraj said.