Industry chamber urges uncap cash withdrawl

New Delhi: Industry body Assocham has urged the government to uncap cash withdrawal for logistics and transport fleet owners, arguing that their operational expenses are higher.

Assocham observed that "the note ban has come as a bottleneck to the transport business". "The chamber has urged the government to review the cash withdrawal limit of Rs 50,000 from the current account per week and raise it to minimum Rs 4-5 lakh (for transport fleet owners) which is bare minimum," Assocham said.

The government de-legalised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes on November 8, in a sudden crackdown on black money and terror financing. Drawing inputs from various sources, the Assocham study on Transport and Logistics noted that close to 10 per cent of the expenses of trucks on trunk routes are accounted for by drivers and other support crew who are part of the journeys which take 7-8 days on a single trip.

"The entire expenses of the drivers and other crew are to be met by cash. In the wake of the demonetisation of high value notes, the fleet owners are facing problems in operations," said the chamber.

While fuel accounts for 52-66 per cent of the total trip expenses, another 25-40 per cent outgo is towards sub heads like tolls, octroi, speedy clearance at check posts etc.

Besides, the study also suggested that to promote seamless inter-state freight flows, a green channel should be adopted for transit of secure/sealed containerized cargo. Presently, there are 177 inter-state check posts and 268 toll barriers on national highways.