Islamabad, May 28: Amid spiking inflation and already high prices of fuel, Pakistan has added a new 30% toll tax for vehicles on all national highways and roads which has enraged the public, particularly as the new tax is going as high as 40% for heavy vehicles, which transporters have termed “shocking” and “unacceptable”.
The Supreme Council of All Pakistan Transporters (SCOAT) held a meeting at the Mauripur Truck Terminal in Karachi, where the SCOAT members told the media that for years the government has forced transporters to buy diesel, spare parts, tires, and lubricants at already extremely high prices.
However, the new toll tax by the government has hit them severely as exorbitant amount of taxes will now be levied on all goods transporters, oil tanker owners, and public transport operators such as intercity buses, local buses, and van owners.
Furthermore, in practice the hike has been more in the 35-40% range instead of 30% further adding to the inflation, hitting the transportation sector very hard, and the burden of which will have to be borne by the public.
In response to the new taxes, the SCOAT members have asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the National Highways and Motorways Authority to immediately roll back the increase in toll tax, otherwise the businesses of transporters across Pakistan, which are already in a state of ruin, could come to a complete collapse.
