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An overloaded truck in Bermo on Friday. (Pankaj Singh)
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Bokaro district administration has issued notices to private and public sector steel and coal companies, asking for a list of transporters whose services they use regularly in a renewed attempt at clamping down on fraudulent practices adopted by truckers to evade taxes.
On Wednesday, Bokaro deputy commissioner Sunil Kumar issued the notices to Bokaro Steel Ltd, Central Coalfield Ltd (CCL), Electrosteel Casting Ltd, Jaypee Cement, Hindustan Steel Construction Ltd (HSCL), along with several other companies, asking them to provide the list, in addition to details of load the operators carried, within seven days .
Kumar said that all the companies had been asked to co-operate and curb the problem of overloading. “I have also sought a list of SUVs and similar privately registered vehicles that were being used by the companies,” he told The Telegraph.
According to sources, transporters resorted to various means, including fudging figures, to show a reduced tonnage of goods carried. A thumb rule is to allow 1 tonne load per wheel of a truck. That means, if a big truck or trailer with, say, 10 wheels is in use, it will be allowed to carry a maximum of 10 tonne.
But coal dumpers invariably showed a lesser tonnage of cargo, thereby cheating the transport department of taxes.
The deputy commissioner’s notice comes after months of inaction on the part of the companies who had been issued letters by district transport officer Vijay Kumar Gupta in June and July.
The district administration believes that over 500 four-wheelers, including SUVs and luxury cars, were being used by PSUs, including companies like ONGC, and HPCL and service providers like the railways and the post and telegraph department.
Kumar has, therefore, directed Bokaro DTO to file FIRs against errant drivers and owners of vehicles under the Motor Vehicle Act 1988 to stop this menace.
DTO Gupta said his department would initiate strict action against over-loading and those who were hiring out their private vehicles for commercial use. “I will launch a drive from the second week of September,” he promised.
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